


Saving Sasuke

by griffindork93



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-03
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-28 08:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 63,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/989788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/griffindork93/pseuds/griffindork93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We were going back to save him from Madara, from the dark and from himself. Because if we saved Sasuke, we saved the world. Time travel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Thunder rumbled. Lightning flashed. The wind blew at insane speeds. The earth shook with tremors.

It was not a storm. It wasn’t a freakish once in a lifetime occurrence of weird weather. It wasn’t the apocalypse. It was a battle to save the world, or what was left of it.

Three figures watched the battle that would determine the fate of the world from a distance. Even over the deafening noise they could hear Naruto’s pleas.

“Haven’t you destroyed enough, Sasuke? Haven’t you gotten your revenge? Konoha’s gone. You razed it to the ground. What more do you want?”

The last Uchiha laughed cruelly. “What more do I want? I want what happened to my clan, to me and Itachi, to never happen again. And if I have to destroy the world and rebuild it to do so, then so be it.”

Naruto’s face hardened and his heart clenched painfully. Why couldn’t Sasuke see beyond his hatred? Why did he still need revenge for an event that happened over a decade ago? Why couldn’t he see that constantly chasing after revenge would only continue to hurt him? If Sasuke had just left it alone, never vowed to kill his brother, Konoha would still exist and Kakashi would still be alive. He could have had a family in them; him, Kakashi, and Sakura.

Sakura took a step closer to her blonde teammate. This battle was reaching its crescendo. She could see it in their posture and feel it the intense buildup of chakra.

Lightning chirped in Sasuke’s palm. Naruto’s Rasengan screeched as it whirled. Sakura had a brief flashback to that day on the roof, when she had foolishly run between her two teammates to prevent them from killing each other, only to be stopped by Kakashi-sensei throwing them to the ground.

Kakashi wasn’t here this time. And she wasn’t going to get between them.

That didn’t stop her from crying again. Even after all these years, it wasn’t easy to let go of the bonds she had made on Team Seven. She watched through watery eyes as black and orange clashed and the force of the jutsus colliding flung them apart.

Hating herself for agreeing to Naruto’s plan, Sakura raced in Sasuke’s direction. Sakura had memorized the anatomy of the human body, everything from cells to chakra coils, and she could hit the chakra point of the heart with the accuracy of a Hyuuga.

Sasuke doubled over, coughing blood. Naruto staggered over, collapsing next to him. Sakura tried. Stars, she tried, but not even with the Kyuubi’s help could Naruto survive a hole in the chest. The Chidori had blown right through him, incinerating everything. Sakura could not heal what did not exist.

Sakura’s attention returned to Sasuke as he coughed once more. She stared in awe at his receding Curse Seal. As the Curse Seal disappeared his expression changed. He was the old Sasuke again, but it was too late. As he choked out a broken ‘sorry’ they knew they hadn’t killed the man who had a hand in enslaving the world; they had killed a comrade, a friend.

“Don’t worry about it, teme. I told you, the next time we fought, we would both die. I promised to shoulder your hatred and die with you. And I never break a promise.”

“Dobe, why?”

“You told me a first class ninja can read his opponent’s heart just by trading blows with him once. I’ve seen inside your heart. You’re not evil, or even corrupted. You were manipulated. You were a victim, and no one ever saw that you were healed. We’re friends. Family.”

Tears slipped silently down Sakura’s cheeks. The three observer’s shunshined to Team Seven’s side, noting the three’s clasped hands. Neither Naruto nor Sakura would leave Sasuke alone to die. Kakashi had taught them better than that. They did not leave comrades behind. That was not their way.

“I think we should give it a try.”

Three heads whipped to gaze at Shikamaru, who shrugged. It was a jutsu Gaara had found in the Kazekage’s archives. It was an experimental jutsu, untested, extremely dangerous, and designed accidently by a man trying to improve upon Shukaku’s seal.

Instead he had created an extremely complex time travel jutsu. So complex that it was impossible to use without risking the lives of the casters. Shikamaru had found several flaws the first time he read the scroll. To start, it was a Five Element Seal, meaning it needed a different person to represent each seal. Second, it needed more chakra than one person had to activate. Third, it needed a level of chakra control that rivaled Tsunade.

Essentially the jutsu needed six people to cast just to send one person into the past. And the more they tried to send through time, the more chakra that was needed. Unfortunately, they did not have six people. Also, both Naruto and Temari had Wind natured chakra. That wouldn’t have been a problem if Naruto had the control necessary. If he did, he would have been able to power the jutsu and they would only need to find a survivor with Fire natured chakra. The Kyuubi was Fire natured, but a clone would not work. Seals required blood, which Shadow Clones did not have.

“But we have nobody for Fire.”

It was ironic that Shikamaru was suggesting it, because he had spent the last five years since Gaara had found it warning them that it was too risky and that they should just destroy it. “What do we have left to lose? What’s the worst that could happen? It doesn’t work and we have to rebuild the world? It kills us? Whatever the outcome, it’s better that we can say we tried to save the world.”

Sakura and Naruto immediately gave their agreement. Not even in the death of Kakashi or Konoha or the world or Sasuke himself would they leave a teammate behind. They could save Sasuke.

Reluctantly the others did too. Gaara worked quickly to assemble the pieces of the seal. He distributed four smaller scrolls to Temari, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Naruto, and kept the fifth for himself. They were representing Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, and Earth respectively. He only hoped, as he and Sakura raised Naruto in order to slide the central scroll beneath him, that he could use the Kyuubi’s chakra to satisfy the element part of the seal and to power it.

“Let me.”

“Sasuke.” Sakura worried her lip.

“I still have some chakra.”

Temari’s eyes softened slightly. She had never cared for the Uchiha, aside from the fact that Naruto kept chasing after him. She never imagined their bonds would be this strong.

Shikamaru’s eyes, on the other hand narrowed. It certainly was the ideal solution. There would be no, less, chances for mistakes if Sasuke activated the Fire scroll. “You won’t be coming with us Uchiha.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He may not have the Nara’s IQ of over two hundred, but he wasn’t stupid. Even if he had enough chakra to survive, he knew the only ones that trusted him were Naruto and Sakura. The other three would never agree to let him join them. His team was ready to forgive and forget, but Shikamaru at least would never forget that he was responsible for his village’s destruction.

“Teme.” _‘Thank you, Sasuke. This time I’ll save you. Believe it.’_

“Dobe.” _‘Whatever, Naruto. Just don’t screw up this time.’_

“Don’t start.” _‘I can kill as easily as I heal. Don’t think I won’t beat the crap out of you. I don’t care if you’re the Hokage or your past self didn’t do it.’_

The three of them shared a smile. They all understood it to say we’ll meet again, one way or another.

Gaara yelled for them to begin. Five colors of chakra arced into the sky, meeting at the center and forming a cage around them. The Kyuubi’s chakra then washed over them, saturating the air. In no time at all they had vanished in an orange light, leaving behind the last Uchiha, whose body had given out power part of the jutsu.

Sasuke died with the smallest of smiles present on his face, placing his faith in Naruto and Sakura to change the future.


	2. Chapter 1

Sakura groaned as she came to, only vaguely recognizing someone muttering ‘finally.’ She was more concerned with the pain. It was all encompassing. As a medical ninja, she knew that her every cell shouldn’t fell like it had been set on fire.

Maybe that was an exaggeration. It actually felt very similar to the time Tsunade had decided to play dodge ball with boulders as tall as her, exclaiming they should be easy to avoid because how could Sakura miss them coming.

Needless to say, that was one of the most painful days of her life, and it was just shunted into second place.

“Bout time, Sakura-chan.” It wasn’t the deep voice she was used to, but Sakura would never forget that voice.

“Hokage-sama!” The pinkette jerked upright, regretting it as her smaller body screamed at her, and promptly lowered herself back to the ground.

“My sentiments exactly.” Naruto had actually managed to be standing and was gazing at something in the distance. Sakura didn’t quite see how he sympathized with her. The Kyuubi probably healed him of all his aches and pains before he woke.

“Did it work?” Shikamaru groaned from his place near her. The dark haired boy had even attempted to sit up yet, content to lay on the ground and breathe in the refreshing scents of the forest.

“Yeah.” It was said breathlessly, like even Naruto, who was well known for thinking up crazy, insane, and impossible plans, couldn’t believe that it had really happened.

Sakura, at one point would have argued that a feat such as time travel was impossible. Such a thing couldn’t truly exist. If one traveled through space and time with the intent to change things, then they must have always been destined to do so, and at the risk of sounding like a Hyuuga, changed nothing at all and actually brought about the event they were trying to prevent. It would be a circle. It would have never happened had they not tried to change it, but must have for them to try, which meant it was caused by their interference. You couldn’t change a future you knew to be true.

But after seeing her world destroyed by a man that shouldn’t have been alive, fighting for survival in a world of darkness, accepting that they had truly gone back in time was rather simple.

The bright smile that bloomed on her face was a stark contrast to her visible weariness. “We did it, guys.”

“Unbelievable isn’t it? But where are we?”

Shikamaru’s second question put Sakura on high alert. She cautiously observed their surroundings. There wasn’t anything special about the land, it was a forest, but she knew they were in Konoha. It was instinctual, she supposed, recognizing home.

That was the moment she realized Temari and Gaara were not with them. It was for the best that the group of five wasn’t discovered together, because how could Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sakura explain knowing two of the Kazekage’s children, let alone why the three of them were together at all? She hoped that they were coping with the transition as well as they were.

She stood with Naruto’s help, wobbling slightly, feeling the familiar swish of long hair, a style she hadn’t worn since the chuunin exams. Sakura absentmindedly threaded her hands through the pink locks. She would definitely need to cut it.

Shikamaru exhaled, instinctively reaching for the pack of cigarettes he carried in his weapons pouch. Skin brushed nothing but cold metal. Troublesome. He hadn’t start smoking until his sensei died, and his mother would kill him if she ever caught him with a cigarette in his mouth. He would need to be diligent about not getting caught and blaming the scent of smoke on Asuma.

“We’re twelve again, physically. Mentally, I just watched as you almost died.”

Naruto couldn’t hold back a flinch and nodded once. That was the first thing he had noticed, his future memories still as clear as day, his old bright orange jumpsuit, Shikamaru’s lack of a flak vest, Sakura’s long hair and old red dress, and their shorter statures, of course. He was once more the shortest person on Team Seven.

His eyes tore open at the thought of Team Seven. Kakashi! Sasuke! Both of them were still alive. One look with Sakura conveyed more than he could say with words. They had a second chance to save him.

Naruto knew that would be a task for him and Sakura. Despite Sasuke’s help in the end, they rest would still see him as the man he would grow up to be; the man that destroyed Konoha. But that person wasn’t the real Sasuke. If they could keep Orochimaru from giving the Curse Mark to Sasuke so much would change. He wouldn’t leave the village, eventually joining up with Madara. Right now, Sasuke was a traumatized twelve year old boy who hadn’t gotten the help he needed.

This time Naruto wouldn’t let him leave. He would prove that Konoha was not the pit of selfishness that Sasuke viewed it as. He would be there for the man he considered his brother.

Shikamaru watched silently as his comrades communicated with just looks. It wasn’t hard to understand their desire to save their teammate, but Sasuke wasn’t redeemable. The man had killed everyone in the village despite knowing the true reasons behind Itachi’s actions. He wouldn’t stop them from trying, but he also wouldn’t hesitate to kill Sasuke if he ever showed he was turning against the village again.

“What the hell do we do now?”

“Pretend that nothing has changed. We go back to the village. Contact Gaara. Make plans. Change the future.”

When he ignored the ludicrous orange clothes, seeing him stand with his hands clasped behind his back and raising himself up to his last inch, it wasn’t hard for Shikamaru to see the Hokage that Naruto had become. It was almost hard to believe that the boy who had failed the gennin exams three times would actually go on to become the strongest shinobi the world had seen.

With the benefit of future knowledge and experience, and the extra time they had been graced with, Naruto would rise to become a god amongst shinobi. A devastating force that no one could stand against.

Plan of action agreed upon, the three time travelers walked the well-known path back to the main gates. The site of the village, intact and teeming with life and color, took Sakura’s breath away. Shikamaru had to slap her on the back to remind her to breathe. It hadn’t been so vibrant in seven years, and she vowed to never see it that way again.

Slipping through the substandard patrol and pass the gate guards Izumo and Kotetsu was easy. Konoha was in peacetime currently, and only had a single jounin walking along the wall.

The three separated, each heading towards their own home to prepare for the days to follow. Tomorrow they would fall into place with their gennin routine, acting the charade of innocent gennin, seeing loved ones for the first time since they buried them.

* * *

Shikamaru was the first to give a lazy wave as he headed towards the Nara Clan compound on Konoha’s eastern side, right near the forest so the deer had plenty of space to graze. He had already formed two dozen different plans that would result in a different version of the future. The only problem was every one of them involved killing Sasuke.

Shikamaru would always be loyal to the leaf, to Naruto. Naruto was his Hokage. And that was the only reason he hadn’t taken the Uchiha by surprise and slit his throat in his bed. Killing Sasuke would hurt Naruto, and Shikamaru couldn’t hurt him.

Nostalgia hit him from every side as he walked the cobblestone streets of Konoha. In his mind he saw its final moments. An entire village in flames. Echoing screams. He had never been close to Sasuke, and could only imagine what it would be like to lose your entire clan. Shikamaru had never wanted to experience it.

But he had. Sasuke had not been satisfied with the deaths of the ones who had ordered his clan massacred. He felt the whole village deserved to face his vengeance, for being part of the problem that brought about the Uchiha Massacre. Sasuke had become the more infamous of the Uchiha brothers that night, for slaughtering every man, woman, and child in the village.

And suddenly Shikamaru knew what it felt like to lose everyone close to you. Not only had he lost his clan, his parents, that night, but Chouji as well.

Remembering that night filled the Nara boy with nothing but bitterness, and a deep desire to thrust one of his knuckle dusters under Sasuke’s throat. He was glad that it was late when he arrived home. He did not think he could handle seeing his parents alive at that moment.

* * *

Sakura was the second to enter her house. It was a simple two story building in the center of Konoha’s civilian district. No doubt her parents were already asleep. Her relationship with them had been strained, like a string pulled taut, ready to snap at any moment from being stretched too thin, ever since she announced she wanted to be a kunoichi.

Her parents didn’t understand ninja, and like most civilians thought them all to be cold blooded killers. It was the last profession they wanted for their only daughter, but Sakura was adamant about attending the Academy. In the end, her strong will won out.

She recalled, after the fiasco of an A-rank mission, that her parents had begged her to quit, hoping now that she had seen with her own eyes the brutality of a shinobi lifestyle that she would see reason. But Sakura didn’t quit. If her parents knew what the future held, and the heinous acts she committed in the name of her village, they would have been horrified.

While she now had a chance to repair her relationship with them, Sakura knew she wasn’t going to. Her parents would never understand her. And she didn’t need them to.  All that mattered to her was that history did not repeat itself.

This time she would not hesitate.

* * *

Naruto trudged through the poorer section of Konoha. The streets were dirty; no amount of D-rank missions could keep them clean. The villagers glared at him as he passed, not bothering to lower their whispers of ‘demon boy’ and ‘monster.’

He felt the Kyuubi’s anger stirring behind the seal, anger on his behalf. Naruto had never blamed the civilians, anyone really, for his situation. And after having met his father, he understood and agreed with sealing the Bijuu in him. He disliked having to deal with their insults, anger, and abuse again, but he could. He had lived through it once. Now their opinions didn’t matter.

He loved his village. He became Hokage to protect it, everyone living in Konoha, and its future. He would earn their acceptance once more. And because he was Hokage, he would make sure it was never destroyed. Naruto would start with the combined Sand and Sound invasion. If he took out Orochimaru before the exams even began, that would solve Sasuke’s defection.

The whole future hinged on Sasuke’s decision to join up with the Snake Sannin. It was a scary thought, but if they could just cut off the snake’s head, they could stop the problem before it existed. And there was nothing Naruto wouldn’t do to protect his precious ones.

Naruto Namikaze would die before he saw his village reduced to an expanse of ashes.

* * *

That night three pairs of eyes gazed at the starry sky. The future was a world of darkness, but now they had hope. They had a chance to change everything, to ensure a brighter future.

And with two nations behind them, nothing would stop them, not even Kami himself.

That night the stars shone with an unheard of brilliance, reflecting the Will of Fire of five shinobi that dared to do the impossible.

 


	3. Chapter 2

Naruto knew that the day was going to be a bad one. 

It started when he woke, at the early hour of six o’clock, just as the sun was rising, to a gloomy overcast day. The sky was grey, the streets were bare. Nobody but the shinobi ventured outside their doors.

Years of conditioning meant that Naruto would not be able to return to his sleep. Not that he wanted to. His dreams were filled with painful memories he’d rather forget. He had witnessed them firsthand and had no desire to relive them every night. They were a reminder of his failure.

The blonde threw on his orange jumpsuit and jumped out his window. Sakura and Shikamaru would be rising. Early morning was the only time the three would be able to meet without curious eyes watching, and they had a lot of work to do.

* * *

Sakura groaned when a tapping sound disturbed her sleep. It had been so long since she last slept in a proper bed. Its softness felt like heaven. She wanted to ignore whoever it was knocking and snuggle deeper into her covers and sleep for ten years.

But the irritating noise persisted, so Sakura was forced to throw off her comforter. Pushing up her window, she drowsily snapped a “What?” at the blonde balancing on the edge of her nonexistent windowsill. 

It was not the prankster her hazy brain expected, but her Hokage. “We need to grab Shikamaru. We have less than a month until the chuunin exams.”

Sakura nodded solemnly and Naruto quickly left to fetch Shikamaru. She was following after him in less than a heartbeat. Her hair had been sloppily trimmed last night, so she simply brushed the wrinkles out of her clothes.

They met their third conspirator outside the gates of his compound. If she hadn’t known better, Sakura would have thought he decided to spend the night out there. But he would not have passed up the chance to be close to his parents.

Shikamaru led them to a relatively unused plot of land in the Nara forest. It was the best place to meet because only Naras, and those they brought with them, were allowed in. He and Sakura looked to Naruto first.

He removed two simple scrolls from his pouch, Sakura’s green orbs widened in recognition. Naruto had created the seals for this just before Konoha had been destroyed, annoyed with the day or more wait to receive messages from Suna. The two villages had been coordinating to fight Madara and wasting time waiting for a reply hindered their efforts. “I’ve already drawn the seals.”

The seals connected the two scrolls, so that when chakra was added to a message it would disappear and reappear in the connected scroll. It was a completely undetectable method of communication that had been used heavily by the Kages to coordinate movements against Madara.

“I’ll send the second one to Gaara. Right now, the most important thing is training. Retraining to be precise. The first time I tried to activate the seals I blew my coffee table to splinters. Our bodies aren’t ready to hold the amount of chakra they currently are. We have four times what we had at this age.”

For Naruto, that was saying a lot. Even as a gennin he had had the chakra capacity of a jounin. If the jutsu sent them back with the level of chakra they possessed at the time, he would have more than a Kage. 

“That means our control is back at square one.” Observed Shikamaru. 

Naruto, obviously would have the most trouble relearning chakra control. The task took him several days the first time he learned it, and with the amount of chakra circulating in his coils now, he was more likely to blow up the tree than walk up it. It would be much easier for Sakura. Although her amazing control came from her smaller reserves, as soon as she regained enough control she could reform her Yin Seal and store the excess chakra in there each day, gradually reducing the amount until her body could handle the full amount of her chakra. Shikamaru knew it would be a struggle for him. At this age, he didn’t have the stamina. Because of that he would exhaust much faster and it would take him much longer to relearn it. He and Naruto would have to channel the remaining chakra into chakra intensive techniques just to get it out of their system.

But, despite the problem it presented, that larger reserves would come in handy.

“Yes. Chakra control is our first priority. Knowledge of the future won’t do us any good if we overpower every jutsu and literally explode everything in sight.”

So they focused chakra to the soles of their ninja sandals. Naruto put one foot on the tree and it broke, taking down two others with it. 

Sakura thought her best bet would be to not concentrate on the amount of chakra, but to do it instinctively. Her first run up the tree resulted in her foot drilling through and the two boys having to help her out.

Shikamaru had learned this technique years ago, for controlling shadows require precision control of one’s chakra. In the end, he made the most progress, a single foot up the tree’s trunk.

The trio trained for three hours, making very little success, before Naruto and Sakura had to leave to meet with the rest of Team Seven. Even though Kakashi-sensei would always arrive three hours late, all the members of Team Seven gathered at their training grounds or the bridge at the time the jounin picked.

Sasuke probably wouldn’t question it if Naruto was late, because the blonde was always the last to arrive, but Sakura never failed to appear on the dot. And while he certainly wouldn’t comment on it, Sasuke would watch them more closely, and they couldn’t afford to raise any suspicions. 

* * *

Naruto’s prediction had come true. The day went from bad to worse.

Kakashi chose that day to have them spar as a team. Meaning Sasuke and Naruto would attempt to beat the other black and blue to the point of hospitalization while Sakura hesitated on the edge cheering for her crush and yelling insults at the blonde. Another regular day for Team Seven, until the spar started.

The second ‘start’ left his mouth, both Naruto and Sakura had leapt backwards, the pinkette instinctively taking up position slightly behind him on his right. Both angled their bodies to give them the widest range of motion and to put the other at their back. They moved in unison, like a pair of seasoned jounin that could read what their partner was going to do before he moved.

Naruto could sense Kakashi’s piercing gaze and knew that they screwed up. Not even a day in the past and they had already made a mistake. 

* * *

The newest Icha Icha book had come out that day. Kakashi had stood outside the bookstore all night so that he could be the first in line. He would tell his students to spar and read this literature masterpiece and call the exercise over when it seemed like Sasuke would kill Naruto.

But he found the spar riveting. It stole his attention. 

First, Naruto had not made any loud declarations about wiping that damned smug look off the Uchiha’s face and how he was going to beat him this time, believe it. And consequently, Sakura had not yelled at Naruto for insulting her precious Sasuke-kun.

The two had paired up against Sasuke, probably in hopes that they could take him out if it was two against one. It wasn’t a plan Kakashi believed to have a chance of success. Sasuke was in a league of his own when it came to combat. The plan was just unexpected, weird, because Sakura was not a fighter and always looked to the dark haired boy for instructions. 

Now, however, she seemed to be taking her cues from her blonde teammate. She had moved backwards first, almost like she was expecting Sasuke to attack from behind, and was in position to intercept him should he go after Naruto.

Sasuke hadn’t blinked at his teammates’ unusual behavior, until Sakura unexpectedly put herself between his kick and Naruto. The girl had frozen just before the attack connected, and Sasuke’s strength sent her crashing to the ground.

That was when Kakashi became concerned. Sasuke had not shown any regret for injuring his female teammate, who was currently biting her lip as she cradled a broken arm. Then Naruto’s body language changed, and Kakashi swore he saw the image of his sensei imposed over Naruto. Rage and determination lined the blonde’s face, his eyes hardened until they were chilling. Kakashi had to close his eyes at the image of his sensei frowning like that when he tried to use Chidori in a spar against Obito.

The two boys fought, and for once Naruto appeared to have the upper hand. He forced Sasuke on the defensive, who barely managed to defend himself and would not have if not for his Sharingan. And then Naruto, too froze, fist raised scant inches from the Uchiha’s face, and Sasuke took advantage of that to hit the blonde in the gut. When he doubled over retching, Sasuke slammed his elbow down on his neck, and Naruto collapsed into the dirt.

The spar had ended the way Kakashi expected, with Sasuke victorious, but nothing about it was right. 

Naruto was clearly holding back, pulling his punches, and he never once used his trademark Shadow Clone jutsu. Sakura had participated this time, leaping to Naruto’s defense, and was removed easily. And unexplainably, both had hesitated when faced with Sasuke’s attacks.

Kakashi called an end to today’s team meeting, reminding them they had a mission tomorrow. Sasuke, indifferent, went off on his to continue training. Sakura helped Naruto off the ground; he noticed that her arm was fixed, and the pair ran from the training grounds, leaving behind a baffled Kakashi.

That was the final kunai for the jounin. Sakura had not asked Sasuke out on a date and willingly left with Naruto when she should have been punching him. 

Fearful for his students, Kakashi followed them.

The two had gone straight to Ichiraku’s and ate in silence. He observed them with his Sharingan, seeing no trace of genjutsu or Henge. Maybe he was seeing things that weren’t there. Sasuke might not have actually broken her arm. The girl could have been shocked that he would actually hurt her. It would be her first injury. Sakura had been his only student to come back from the Land of Waves unscathed, only because she did not fight.

Maybe that mission had made her realize being a shinobi was not a game, that it wasn’t something you did to catch a boy’s attention. That mission changed Naruto, too, it seemed. Now that Sakura was willing to train, Kakashi could mold them into this generation’s strongest team. 

They had the basis for it. Sasuke was very advanced, the Rookie of the Year, capable of utilizing fire jutsus and his Sharingan already. Naruto, with his enormous chakra reserves, in addition to the Kyuubi, and his Shadow Clones could be a one man army, if he used his head a lot more. Not that he needed to with Sakura on the team. She was the smartest of the three. With a couple of genjutsus, both defensive and offensive, she would be perfectly suited to be the strategist, deftly able to direct Naruto’s destructive potential. 

Kakashi left, satisfied that his students weren’t enemy ninja in disguise, anticipating training a team that had the potential to become famous. Now he only had to train them like Minato did him.

* * *

Shortly after he disappeared Shikamaru took a seat on Naruto’s left. “Kakashi’s gone.”

“We know.” His two students said in unison.

“How did your day go?”

Sakura let her head slam on the countertop. “Horrible,” muttered Naruto. “You?”

“The same.”

Shikamaru had wanted to crush his team in a hug. It killed him to see bubbly Ino, Chouji munching an exorbitant amount of chips, and Asuma-sensei peacefully smoking.  He tried to play the lazy character they expected, but he found himself reacting to orders when they were given and taking charge of the mission from the beginning instead of waiting until Ino’s and Chouji’s arguing became too troublesome.

At the end of the day his teammates didn’t think anything of his strange behavior, but he was sure Asuma did.

“I hate this. I have the mindset of a twenty-three year old woman mentally, but physically, my body reacts like a twelve year old.”

Shikamaru sighed, resigned to the situation. He had known the risks of using the time travel jutsu. He studied it extensively before even letting Gaara tell Naruto it existed, but he felt the benefits outweighed those risks. There could have been a million risks, but the opportunity to rewrite the future was one he could not ignore. He had not considered having to live in a younger body. All day he had dealt with conflicting signals, from his immature body and his warfront mind. Naruto and Sakura must have had it harder, having to deal with Sasuke, who they had just watch die. 

“We can’t be seen together. Not until after the forest.” Naruto stated.

The second part of the chuunin exam would give them the excuse they needed. As rookie participants, all the other teams would be gunning for them, so it would be believable for two Konoha teams to work together to survive. Once the sand siblings arrived they would be complete. It would be troublesome to sneak around until then, but necessary. 

But they still had three weeks until Gaara and Temari arrived. Naruto would send the red head his scroll tonight, when a messenger bird was less likely to be spotted. Until then, they needed to remain inconspicuous.

Naruto absentmindedly used chakra to leap atop the nearest building. The street formed spider web cracks where he was standing, and Shikamaru was sure there would be a matching pair on the roof Naruto hurriedly jumped off of. 

And train until they dropped from exhaustion. Too many incidences like this, combined with the fact they stopped using jutsus entirely, would alert their senseis that something was wrong. 


	4. Chapter 3

Naruto thanked Kami that Kakashi had them do menial D-rank missions the rest of the week. Sakura and Shikamaru had made leaps and bounds with regards to getting their chakra back under control, but Naruto felt like he was back in the Academy trying to learn the clone jutsu. 

He had tried numerous times to make Shadow Clones. The more copies of him training the better. But every clone was overloaded with chakra and they dispersed almost instantly.

Sakura, now that she had regained her previous level of control, had trouble restraining her ability. In the future, she never hid the monstrous strength she learned from Tsunade. Her temper and fists made her quite infamous in Konoha. But Sakura couldn’t shatter mountains at this age, and occasionally a glimpse of her true strength shone through. It helped that she siphoned the majority of her chakra into the newly formed Yin Seal, hidden beneath wrappings on her left forearm. It reduced her chakra to manageable levels.

In Naruto’s opinion, Shikamaru had it the easiest. Well, not counting Gaara. Suna was so afraid of him that they wouldn’t notice any change in his personality. He only had to act lazy, which wasn’t much of an act because all Naras were born with a predisposition to relax at every possible chance. After the last seven years, Naruto envied him for being able to take advantage of that.

Kakashi never trailed them after practice again, but the time travelers agreed not to meet during the day. It was bad enough that he had done it once. If he ever actually spotted the three of them together, or Kami forbid Asuma started stalking them too, they would never get anything done.

Speaking of getting things done, Naruto was reaching the point where he wanted to go kill Orochimaru. They had yet to do one thing to prevent their future from unfolding. It was only Shikamaru’s warning that cautioned him. If the snake didn’t kill and replace the Kazekage, the invasion wouldn’t occur and it could be years before they meet up with Gaara and Temari.

Naruto thought they would forgive his impatience. If he killed Orochimaru now, he would never bite Sasuke. How could he let an opportunity to save his brother pass him by?

But he did as his friend advised; nothing. 

The pleasure it would give him aside, if Naruto took out Orochimaru this early, the changes to the future would be drastic. If the invasion did not occur their knowledge would become pointless because the future would take an entirely different path. 

When faced with the unknown and letting his village be attacked, Naruto chose to welcome Orochimaru. At least they knew what he was planning. 

* * *

The Third Hokage fixed his jounin senseis with a steely gaze. The chuunin exams were upon them once more, this time being Konoha’s turn to host them. The exams were a chance to display a village’s strength, a weapon. By showing off the best there was to offer they showed they won missions from clients and warned off the other villages from thinking about starting another Shinobi War.

Sarutobi wanted only the best to take part.

“We shall begin. Kunugi Mokume.”

“My team will participate, Hokage-sama.”

“Gai Might.”

“My team’s flames of youth burn brightly. I had them wait a year so they would be the most youthful ones competing. Team Gai will participate as well.”

“Aoba Yamashiro.”

“No sir. My team has recently lost one of its members. Even if there was a replacement I would not nominate them.”

“Hamaki Mimura.”

“I do not nominate Team Sixteen.”

“Asuma Sarutobi.”

“I nominate Team Ten.” The crowded room of jounin fell silent. Nominating rookies was not a course of action taken lightly, and most jounin chose to wait a minimum of a year like Gai. It was all too easy for gennin to die in these exams. 

“I nominate Team Ten.” The Hokage’s son repeated.

The Hokage nodded and moved on to the next jounin. “Kurenai Yuuhi.”

The lone female jounin sensei stood proudly. “I nominate Team Eight.”

The Hokage inhaled a puff of his pipe, blowing the smoke out. “Very well. If that is all the nominations.”

“What about Kakashi?”

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. He had hoped by leaving the rookie gennin until the end, even the ever late Kakashi would appear on time. “I will summon him. You’re dismissed.” He waited until the various senseis filed out of his office. “You can stop haunting the window, Kakashi.”

The masked man crouched in the open window. “I suppose you’re also nominating your team?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama. I have no doubt all three will make chuunin.”

Sarutobi was surprised by the confidence with which Kakashi spoke. He knew the reason behind Asuma and Kurenai entering their gennin, more for the experience than a promotion. At present, only the Nara boy had the qualities of a chuunin, and it didn’t matter if he thought the whole exam was too troublesome to finish like his Academy exams.

Kakashi shrugged. “They’ve changed, sir.” He said. 

“Changed how? Is the Kyuubi affecting Naruto?”

“Nothing like that. There’s nothing wrong with his seal.” The Sandaime was relieved. He cared for Naruto like a second grandson. Konohamaru treated Naruto with as much respect as he did for the Hokage, going as far as to tell people that Naruto was his brother.

“Fighting Zabuza forced them to mature. Naruto’s more level-headed. It’s almost like he’s another person. He’s a shadow of the energetic boy that always shouted he was going to be Hokage. And Sakura’s stopped complaining and asking Sasuke out. She’s buckled down and is learning at a frightening pace. The only one really unchanged is Sasuke.” Kakashi finished.

“Are you positive you wish to nominate them?”

“Yes. Not that I think they’ll fail, but if they do it will be a learning experience. But they’ll pass with flying colors.”

“If you are sure.”

* * *

“We won’t hold back.”

Shikamaru and Sakura both blinked at their leader. As per usual as of late, they were arguing over what to do about the upcoming chuunin exams. They debated every detail, with Gaara and Temari throwing their two cents in via the scroll.

The sand duo had confirmed their father’s death. Neither sibling had wanted to prevent his murder and shed no tears. 

To Naruto, that meant he had free reigns to hunt down the snake bastard that was about to ruin Sasuke’s life. Luckily for him, Orochimaru was slithering straight into a trap, pretending to be the Sound team’s sensei. He would be dead before the exams were over, preferably in the Forest of Death where Naruto could leave his body to be picked clean and torn apart by animals.

The main point of contention, because no one was going to fight Naruto or Sakura on the topic of saving Sasuke for the umpteenth time; they’d only be wasting their breathe because the pair would do what they wanted anyway, was how to deal with the second and third parts of the exam.

One thing that had to change was Sakura’s loss. This time she needed to pass the preliminary. That was given. She had sworn eleven years ago that she would no longer watch her teammates from behind, and instead walk beside them. There was no way she would be sitting in the stands this year.

Naruto hadn’t said a word until just now, leaving the arguing to his two subordinates. Shikamaru was of the opinion that Sakura’s rise in abilities would be too noticeable if she beat Ino this time around and that for appearance’s sake she had to fail a second time. 

“There’s no need for us to play it safe at this point. We’re making ripples. They’ll spread and eventually touch the other side. We came back to make changes. We will not hide. Madara hasn’t and won’t start moving for three years. That’s more than enough time for us to deal with the consequences of making a splash in the exams. This time, I want him to know what he’ll be dealing with.”

The silence seemed tangible after Naruto’s impassioned speech. All Sakura and Shikamaru could do was bow their heads, follow their leader’s orders and say, “Yes, Hokage-sama.”

As with every time they addressed him formally, the blonde scowled. He didn’t have much time to be Hokage. Sasuke had attacked scant weeks after he had been sworn in. Naruto repeatedly told them not to call him that, both out of respect for the old man and because it wasn’t wise to run around calling him the Hokage. He had even tried ordering them, since they insisted that he was their Hokage, not the third. 

But they had soundly refused. To them, Sarutobi had been dead for eleven years. Naruto was the Hokage. He had earned the title, led them even when the village had been destroyed, continuing to fight for the future, as the Will of Fire demanded of all Konoha shinobi. Nobody deserved the title more, so when it was just the three of them, Sakura and Shikamaru addressed him with the respect he had toiled for. 

With Naruto’s orders given, the topic of the chuunin exams shifted to teasing Shikamaru about the two major blondes in his life. 

The pineapple haired boy pillowed his head on his arms and gazed at the clouds. “Ino’s too troublesome. She’s like a harpy, always screeching in my ear about not sleeping during training. I get up at four in the morning to run around Konoha with you insane people and she can’t cut me a break. I mean, I don’t even get to eat breakfast.”

He glared when Naruto sniggered at him. 

“She’s better once she mellows out.” Sakura said fairly.

“Which she won’t do because you plan on keeping Sasuke around.” He returned. Sakura shrugged. “Anyway, you know Temari would kill me if I cheated on her.”

“At least you both can be with your lovers. Mine is still a twelve year old girl that faints whenever I say hi to her,” grumbled Naruto. Sakura forced a smile on her face as he continued to rant about the unfairness, how he was the only one that didn’t get to bring his girlfriend with him, and quickly decided that she needed to be alone.

She had no clue how she was going to deal with Gaara’s arrival. So far her plan was to deal with it when he came. 

Sakura honestly didn’t know how she felt about him. Naruto and Shikamaru were lucky. They at least knew that their feelings were returned. It was different for her and Gaara. She didn't know if she loved him. In the war, every day was just fighting and every night was burying dead and healing the injured. Every moment was filled with thoughts of, ‘will the next one be me’ or ‘do I know this one?’ Everyone needed comfort, a shoulder to cry on, a person to hug, someone to just be there for you and you for them back. Sakura took comfort in Gaara, but did she love him? Did he love her? She couldn’t answer that.

And what about Sasuke? What about Matsuri? Matsuri was just a child here in this time, and she was in Suna and never even met Gaara. She knew there had been something between teacher and student. Could she steal him before Matsuri had a chance to know him? And Sasuke was still all about revenge. He was not evil, though he would walk in the line to get the power he craved. Did she love him still? Did she want him more than Gaara? Did she want him at all?

Sakura couldn’t answer those questions either. Her heart was torn in two. She and Gaara had spent many nights talking. The pinkette was positive the romantic feelings towards Sasuke were a remnant of her twelve year old self. The only love she felt for him now was familial.

But her heart fluttered at the thought of the future Kazekage and she felt butterflies in her stomach every time his name was spoken. Sakura took a calming breath. She would deal with Gaara when he got here.

* * *

Two thirds of Team Seven awaited the arrival of their chronically late sensei with a decided nervousness. Today he would give them the forms to fill out for the chuunin exams and in mere minutes they would see the sand siblings for the first time since their return. 

“Where is he?” Naruto growled. 

Sasuke shot him a glare. “Shut up, dobe. And stop pacing.”

“Guys, let’s not fight.”

“Yes, you boys best listen to Sakura.” Kakashi called from his perch on the bridge’s support beam. “I’d hate to have to withdraw you from the chuunin exams because you can’t work together.”

Naruto tuned out his sensei’s explanation of the exam and his emphasis on it being their individual choice whether or not to participate. He honestly didn’t know how he didn’t catch that it could only be done as a team the first time around. There was no way Kakashi would ever turn around and tell them to go at it alone after the scare tactic he used their first day. 

Kakashi would always preach teammates and teamwork first. Sometimes Naruto wondered how he would have grown if he had had a different sensei. Would he have fought so hard to bring back Sasuke? Would he have been more of a rule follower?

Naruto couldn’t help but shudder. He would probably never follow the rules. His maudlin thoughts were irrelevant. Naruto would never leave a teammate behind. He, Sakura, and Sasuke would grow stronger together, as a team. The way it should have always been.

The blonde carefully placed his entry form in his pocket, watching as Sasuke already headed in the direction of the training grounds. Naruto spared his pink haired teammate a look before he raced off to oust Konohamaru’s square rock disguise.

The scene played out just as he remembered, with Konohamaru insulting Sakura and the mad demon chasing them down the street. The similarities ended after the young boy bumped into Kankuro. 

Temari snatched Konohamaru out of her brother’s hand, grinning at his half confused half angered face, and clapped Naruto on the back heartily.

He could only watch agog as she hugged the pink haired girl, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when his insane brother greeted them in a similar manner.

Sakura felt her face flush when Gaara turned to her after hugging Naruto. He was as handsome as she remembered. He didn’t look insane. She couldn’t see the shadow of Shukaku in his eyes. She held onto him a little longer than just friends would.

Temari’s pointed cough broke them apart. “Where’s Shika?”

“You’ll see him tomorrow. His team won’t return from their mission until later today.” The Suna kunoichi pouted at that answer.

Poor Kankuro couldn’t make any sense of the proceedings and jumped to obey Gaara when he said they were leaving. One thing he was sure about. Konoha shinobi were insane.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura met outside the building were the first part of the chuunin exams was to take place. It was no trouble making out the others in the crowd.

Their path was blocked by the group of gennin trying to gain entrance to the wrong room guarded a pair of chuunin. Tenten was pleaded for them to let her team through when Sasuke scoffed that only an amateur would be fooled by such a weak genjutsu.

Lee once again blocked Sasuke’s strike on the undercover chuunin. It was when Lee moved that Sakura saw something unexpected, and her arm shot out to grab Naruto’s. 

“What?”

“Look there over Lee’s shoulder.”

Naruto stared at a familiar head of black hair and pale skin. “Is that Sai?” Naruto was baffled. Why was Sai there? Was he there the first time? Or had they changed something without realizing it?

Sai was lost in a sea of faces as many gennin tried to take advantage of the chuunins distraction to slip into the exam room. Then Lee caught sight of Sakura and made his declaration of love.

“My name is Rock Lee. Let’s go out together! I’ll protect you until the day I die!” He gave her a thumbs up, winking and showing off his very white teeth. 

Sakura felt like her face was on fire. The grief she felt nearly crushed her. Someday Lee just might sacrifice himself to save her.  It was embarrassing the first time Lee asked her out, but with Shikamaru, Gaara and Temari present to overhear it, it was mortifying. She could help but glance at Gaara, who looked slightly dangerous, out of the corner of her eye.

“I’m sorry, Lee, but there’s somebody else I like.”

Lee trudge away with his head hung and Sakura scurried past her laughing fellow time travelers.

Kakashi met them outside the double door room to give them one last piece of advice. When the door closed behind his students, he had to mentally wonder if the rest of participants were ready for them.

Naruto threw open the door confidently. The beginning of a new future was right before him, and he had both Sakura and Sasuke at his sides.

There was absolutely nothing that could go wrong. Not when it was Shikamaru’s genius plan.


	5. Chapter 4

Naruto’s inner prankster took control as soon as he entered the room. Hopeful gennin huddled in teams of three casting suspicious looks at the gennin from other villages. 

He knew a little over half managed to pass this round due to his brashness. This time, now that he didn’t have to worry about Sakura dropping out on his behalf, only the strongest would make it to the Forest of Death. But it would be fun to shake the confidence of the other gennins, and Ibiki Morino.

Naruto was handed a white test paper and giddily to his seat next to Hinata, this being the most and closest contact he had with his future wife since coming back. To her credit, the Hyuuga heiress did not faint, but she did duck her head stuttering too badly to say his name. He would work on her confidence. Sakura had Gaara and Shikamaru had Temari; there was no way he was going to be a fifth wheel.

The blonde didn’t even glance at his exam when Ibiki yelled that their time started. Last time he had passed with only his name written in the top left corner because the only question that counted was the tenth one. This time he wasn’t even going to write his name.

His eyes drooped, watching the second and minute hands make circles about the clock face. Last night had been the only chance all five time travelers had to meet up. Ultimately they had decided nothing, having spent more time arguing than plotting, and if left Naruto drained. 

Kami, what he wouldn’t kill to get a cup of coffee right now. And some ramen too. Both of them together. He would have to drag the rest to Ichiraku’s after the second exam. Did they even serve coffee?

* * *

Sakura scribbled furiously, cramming more information than was necessary in the tiny boxes provided for answers. Years of being a medical shinobi had resulted in Sakura creating a coded shorthand. She had designed nine different plans to handle Gaara’s reappearance in her life that she could put into effect without talking to him.

In short, they were all horrible. If she tried to ignore him she would only make it more awkward between them. And Sakura didn’t want that. She genuinely like Gaara, he was an easy person to be with. She could be just Sakura and he was just Gaara.

But love was a different matter. Sasuke had stomped on her heart once, leaving her unsure if she could love again.

Sakura hoped she could. Life in this world would be awfully lonely if she watched the rest of her generation come to find love but found none for herself.

* * *

Ibiki had never been so annoyed and amused by a group of gennin. Five stood out in particular, which included Hatake’s two students that Hokage-sama had asked him to watch closely. The boy’s lidded eyes were fixated on the clock and the girl was warping the desk by drumming her fingers rapidly.

The boy hadn’t even picked up his pencil, unlike his pink haired teammate that stopped writing within the first five minutes. Both now put on bored expressions. 

His exam was supposed to shake them, not be an hour for nap time. At that thought he looked to the lone Nara sitting towards the back. He, too, appeared to have already finished or could not be bothered. With Naras both options were possible. He was making calf eyes at the kunoichi from Suna who giggled and winked back.

Flirting! In his exam! They were supposed to be quaking in their seats. He would have to make the tenth question harder.

"Now before we get to it I would like to go over the added rules for this question." Ibiki said as the final fifteen minutes began. First I will give you the question. Do not interrupt me while I do so or your points will be reduced to zero and you’ll fail. At the end you will have two choices.”

Ibiki released a minor amount of killing intent which had gennin shaking in their seats. The poorly disguised shocked looks on the time travelers’ faces did not escape his attention and he mentally stored away their odd reaction.

“Your village issues a time sensitive mission.” Shock morphed into alarm. This wasn’t the tenth question. Ibiki had changed the tenth question. How could they foil Orochimaru’s invasion if they couldn’t guarantee their advancement to the final exam?

“You encounter the target, only it is in the hands of a team of jounin from a different village. Under no circumstances are you to allow the other team to abscond with the target. You have two choices: to continue the mission to retrieve the target, taking your chances against a stronger opponent, or you radio for backup and risk losing the target.”

Silence answered Ibiki. “If you would choose the first option, if you would attack the enemy team, remain seated. If you would choose the second option and risk failure, leave the room. But know, should even one team member choose the second choice, then his teammates must leave as well. Missions are completed as a team so all members must pick one option. Those teams that pick the wrong choice will never be allowed entrance to another chuunin exam.”

* * *

Sakura chewed her bottom lip. It was a situational question, similar to what happened to Team Seven during their mission to Nami no Kuni. They should have returned to the village for reinforcements once they learned Tazuna was being hunted by shinobi, but they had pushed on, facing Zabuza and Haku. Wasn’t the mission priority? That’s why Team Seven continued to protect the bridge builder. Was the right answer to fight the enemy for the target?

The two teams from Ame and one of Takigakure’s teams walked out of the room. 

"I'll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision.”

What were they supposed to do? The mission had to be completed, and there wasn’t a lot of time to wait for reinforcements to arrive, but it was foolish to fight an opponent you stood no chance against.

A chair scraped as Naruto stood, strolling out the room confidently without a second glance. Sakura didn’t even think before finding herself on her feet. She and Shikamaru had stood in unison, trailing after their Hokage. Gaara and Temari right behind them. 

“Numbers thirty-one and ninety-two! Please exit the room.”

Jaw clenched Sasuke stormed out. The blonde was leaning against the wall, one leg bent at the knee and propped on the wall, with Shikamaru and Sakura flanking him.

The door hadn’t even closed behind him before he was shouting at Naruto. “What the hell was that, dobe? We’re ninja. We have to finish the mission.”

Two cerulean orbs pierced him. “You haven’t learned anything from Kakashi-sensei. Always look underneath the underneath. Missions are failed every day. Konoha does not waste lives.”

Sasuke opened his mouth to argue when the doors opened once more and Teams Eight and Gai joined them. Neji looked just as happy as he did.

In the end, ten teams waited outside the doors.

* * *

The window exploded inward. In a matter of seconds a woman with spiky purple hair and a tan trench coat stood before a banner. She posed in front of it, displaying her lack of modesty. "This is no time to be lying about. I am the examiner for the second test! Anko Mitarashi! Now let's go! Follow me!"

She finally looked out at the crowd of confused gennin. “101! Ibiki! You left thirty-one teams! What the hell happened to your insanely difficult psychological test that was going to weed out the faint hearted and weak?”

Ibiki ignored her accusing finger. “These are the teams that failed.”

Anko stared at him perplexed as the gennin cried foul. The stages of the exam were finalized and agreed upon by the Hokage before they allowed gennin to sign up. Ibiki’s was supposed to test their ability to gather information and their willingness to take risks. He had said that those in the room at the end of an hour passed. 

How dare he change it on her? He ruined her perfectly dramatic entrance. All that effort into terrifying the gennin before she threw them into the Forest of Death wasted!

“Why did you go around and flip the choices for?”

“I didn’t. I asked a completely different question.”

Anko was baffled. Ibiki never made a decision without reason, but what reason could there be for completely changing the purpose of his exam?

“The Nara boy was flirting! Flirting!” Ibiki emphasized. “In my exam!”

The purple haired special jounin cackled, scarring many of the gennin. A gennin had gotten under Ibiki’s skin. Kami she couldn’t wait to go to the Jounin Station and tell everyone that a gennin had rattled interrogator Ibiki.

Well, if he was going to make some last minute changes, than so could she, dammit. 

The double doors flung open again, revealing Anko Mitarashi. “I am the examiner for the second test! Anko Mitarashi!” she repeated. “I want all thirty of you to meet me at the Training Grounds Forty-four in an hour. Konoha, no helping the outsiders find their way. If you’re not there on time you fail!”

The woman was gone in a swirl of leaves and dirt.

* * *

Ibiki stomped into the Jounin Station where the senseis of Konoha’s participants were awaiting the results of the first exam, shoving three papers at Kakashi and Asuma.

The other jounin stared perplexed as Ibiki growled for them to read them. Kakashi shrugged. Then blinked. He couldn’t understand a word on Sakura’s. It was gibberish. 

“Whose is this one?” He asked, waving the blank test.

“Uzumaki’s.” Kakashi laughed. It was just like Naruto to luck out. He didn’t answer a single question. The boy didn’t even write his name.

“When I changed the question the boy did even hesitate. Walked right out of the room without looking at his teammates.” Ibiki raged.

“What does yours say?” Kurenai asked Asuma.

“Shikamaru wrote an essay on why Ibiki’s exam was pointless and pointed out all the flaws in his method. Listen to this: _This whole exam is poorly designed. With the length of time you spent harping on how cheating would cost points, and the fact that the questions were impossible for a gennin, whose only chased the Daimyo’s wife’s cat, to answer, it was glaringly obvious the purpose of the exam was to steal information. It would have been better to say explicitly that cheating would not be tolerated and anyone caught disqualified their team. Given that chuunin can take up to B-rank missions, any gennin that is too dense to realize the true test was to not get caught is a security risk to the village and should be stuck cleaning rivers._

“It continues in that vein for a while.”

“Who knew Shikamaru had it in him?”

While Gai and Kurenai were amused, the two involved senseis were concerned. In the four months they had been teaching they had not knownNaruto to be strategic, Sakura to not take a test seriously, or Shikamaru to mock authority. 

There was something weird about those three gennin, because this wasn’t the first time the two senseis had seen them acting out of character. Kakashi had brushed it off, attributing to their maturing. Asuma convinced himself he was imagining things. 

They clearly couldn’t ignore it anymore. 

* * *

Gaara, Temari, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Naruto converged in the hidden clearing in the Nara’s forest. Naruto was pacing.

“Things have changed.” Gaara said quietly. “The final question.”

“That’s not all,” said Sakura.

“What do you mean?” Temari asked sharply.

“Earlier we saw Sai. Was he in the exams the first time? Did you guys ever come across him?” The two Sun nin shook their heads in the negative. 

“But why has it changed?” Naruto demanded. “We haven’t interfered in any way yet!”

“I think,” Shikamaru said slowly, “that our presence here has caused ripples. No matter how hard we try, we can’t hide the fact that we’ve changed. From their perspective, our personalities have done a complete one-eighty for no reason. This world is changing in response to our more mature selves taking the place of those that should be here.

“Look at it this way, time isn’t linear. It can’t be; otherwise Ibiki would have given us the trick tenth question. This shows that there are different lines it can follow. It would be too complicated to go into the concept of alternate or parallel realities. The point is; something caused Ibiki to change his mind.”

“But what? And what else will change? Anko’s already making changes to the second exam. How can we prevent our future from happening if we can’t trust our past?”

“I think we should focus on the second exam. No matter what changes, we all need to make it through the forest.” Temari said. 

Naruto’s face darkened. He wasn’t all that concerned with passing the chuunin exams. He could be a gennin for the rest of his life. It was only a ranking, and it didn’t matter with regards to becoming Hokage. The strongest shinobi became Hokage and he had already earned the title once. Naruto could wait a few years to get it again. 

His sole focus was to eliminate Orochimaru before the bastard could sink his teeth into Sasuke, both figuratively and literally. And he would seek them out in the forest.

“Sakura and I’ll handle Orochimaru. You three focus on finding the scrolls.” He gestured for his four companions to move closer. One at a time he formed a string of hand seals and pressed two fingers to the palm of their hands. “Fuuinjutsu: Tsuiseki shīru!”

They watched mesmerized as black lines writhed on their hands, taking the shape of human. 

“What is this?”

“It’s a tracking seal.” He explained. “It’ll allow me to know where you are at all times and you to find me.”

“I think mine has wings. Does that make you my guardian fairy?” Temari teased. 

“Not a chance. This is just in case we get separated. If you need help just focus some chakra into it. The rest will flare and turn red. When we find Orochimaru it’ll turn blue. Do not try to interfere. This is Team Seven’s fight.”

Naruto’s confidence did nothing to booster Sakura’s. Defeating Orochimaru would be no easy task, and it was Sasuke who had done it originally, after learning from and living with him for three years. And even he failed to kill him. 

They had three and a half days to find the snake before he found them. The Forest of Death was huge. There wasn't enough time. Three and a half days was not enough to work up what they achieved in three and a half years. They needed a foolproof plan to catch Orochimaru and a few dozen back up plans just in case. They would need a miracle. . .

Or maybe they needed team work. "Shikamaru, Gaara. What gates did you guys start at? I have a plan."

* * *

Temari glared at the insane proctor, who did not react. 

The entire forest was covered in a layer of snow. How the hell had she produced snow in the middle August? And why hadn’t she warned them to bring warm clothes?

She lived in a desert, for Kami’s sake. She was not dressed properly to spend five days traipsing through a forest in the snow. 

Anko explained the rules of the exam, which thankfully had not changed, and passed around the waivers. Temari wondered, looking at the teams gathered, if there would be preliminaries this time. With only ten teams, the most that could pass was fifteen, and they had no plans to let anyone not from Konoha or Suna make it to the finals.

The gates opened and the siblings raced in, snow crunching beneath sandaled feet. Gaara replaced them with sand clones, unnoticed by Kankuro, who was afraid of being trapped in close quarters with his insane brother and therefore ran ahead of the two. 

Gaara and herself, along with Shikamaru, were responsible for dealing with the other four teams and procuring their scrolls. The only problem Temari foresaw was making sure the last two scrolls found their way into the hands of Konoha’s teams that lacked someone from the future.

Neither would accept if from them at this point, nor would they take it from Shikamaru. Shinobi did not take well to pity or freebies. 

* * *

Sakura worried as Naruto gathered natural chakra. Slipping away from Sasuke had been easy, considering that he could spot an imposter in less than three seconds. Apparently, like the Byakugan, the Sharingan could not tell the difference between clone and caster. 

She knew Naruto had mastered senjutsu, he had never tried it at twelve and he never had so much chakra. If he started turning into a stone frog there wouldn’t be anything she could do.

Thankfully he had no problems. The duo slipped through the foliage like a ghost, leaving no tracks in the snow for Sasuke to follow. 

Once they were one hundred meters in Naruto sat crossed legged in the snow, closed his eyes and concentrated. After moments orange rimmed eyes snapped open.

“He’s not here.” 

“What?”

Naruto climbed to his feet angrily. “Orochimaru! The bastard’s not in the forest.”

“Are you sure? He can hide his presence.”

“Not from senjutsu. Everyone’s chakra is a spot of light. One the size of Orochimaru’s should have been obvious, but there’s nothing. He’s not in the forest.”

“Does that mean he didn’t join the exam until the third day?” Sakura pondered. “Or has the past changed again?”

The blonde shook his head. “I don’t know. Let’s catch up to the others.” He hoped they had been more successful than he was.

* * *

Gaara, Temari, and Shikamaru did have more luck. Through a combination of Temari’s blustering winds taking teams by surprise, Shikamaru’s shadow attaching to theirs and locking them in place, and Gaara’s sand, which could lift the scroll or threaten to crush a team unless they agreed to hand it over, they had already collected three scrolls.

They were suitably shocked to hear that Naruto couldn’t sense Orochimaru. The issue of Sasuke aside, they could not prevent the invasion and the Sandaime’s subsequent death if they could not deal with the snake now. All their plans hinged on Orochimaru dying in the Forest of Death.

“Let’s just head for the tower. We have the scrolls we need. Your comrades have to earn their own way, we can’t just hand them a pass. It’s only the two teams from Ame. They won their scrolls last time so they can do it again. Otherwise, there’s nothing we can do.”

Temari had a point so they set out for the tower. Naruto took point and Temari and Shikamaru naturally gravitated towards each other, leaving her to take up the rear with Gaara.

The silence was awkward and stifling. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye to find him staring intently at her.

She was going to have to talk with him sooner or later. Perhaps it would be best to get it over with. At least no one else would be privy to their conversation.

* * *

Gaara waited patiently for Sakura to acknowledge him. Her nervousness showed in the paleness of her skin.

He had had time, isolated in Suna, to contemplate and thoroughly pick apart his feelings. The war was hard on everyone. No one came out the same as they went in.

Gaara hid it well, but it affected him to. He had been named Regimental Leader. It was his job to command the troops, place them on the battlefield, and he had ordered them to their deaths. Orochimaru’s absence was disturbing. He had no desire to send the world to its end a second time.

Having Sakura beside him had helped. Maybe it was because she healed those lives he threw away and cried over those she couldn’t save, but she understood his feelings. The regret and the determination to wake and do the same thing because the war had to be fought and it was idealistic to believe that there would be no casualties. 

So, over the course of the last month, Gaara had come to the conclusion that his feelings for the pink haired kunoichi were real and not just a byproduct of war. They had spent many hours together, simply enjoying the other’s presence and warmth, swapping tales of missions and talking about the differences in their two villlages.

Sakura had only been to Suna once, when her team had leapt to his rescue and she had saved Kankuro, but she said she would like to spend more time there. It was that moment, as they lay beneath the twinkling stars and she turned her ethereal face towards him and said “I’d love that,” to his invitation that Gaara was struck by the multitude of his feelings.

He, Sabuku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage, was in love with Sakura Haruno.

It had been a novelty for him, growing up without love, and he wasn’t going to let her go without a fight.

“Sakura.”

“Gaara.” She whispered.

“My feelings are unchanged.” She whispered his name again. “I want you with me. I want to protect you when you can’t defend yourself and trust you to always have my back. I want to be your strength.”

Her emerald green eyes glazed over with tears. “I’d like that.” She had overcomplicated it, looked into their relationship too much. At the end of the day, neither Sasuke nor Matsuri could ever fully understand them, and she didn’t want Sasuke. He was her brother just like Naruto.

Speaking of, “You get to tell Naruto you’re dating his sister.”

Gaara smirked.

* * *

“Kukuku, isn’t this an interesting collection of gennin. Three little leaves and two specks of sand. How did you come to be working together? This is a team test.”

Naruto’s eyes blazed as they locked on the snake peeling away from a tree. He released the full force of his killing intent and the Kyuubi’s, taking delight in the momentary look of fear on Orochimaru’s white face.

“Go!” He snapped at Temari, Gaara, and Shikamaru.

“But,”

“Now!”

Shikamaru was the last to leave, pausing at the edge of Naruto’s vision. Naruto’s tone softened. “Trust me, Shika.”

The dark haired boy nodded. He had put his faith in Naruto when the man had saved their village from Pein. Naruto had never taken that faith for granted. On more than one occasion he rose up to face the impossible and walked away the victor. He had become a legend, his Hokage.

Shikamaru put his trust in Naruto and never looked back. So he would trust him to deal with the traitorous Sannin.

“Don’t take too long, this is a timed test.” 

“We won’t.”

The battle that followed was like a choreographed dance. Blows were traded back and forth with the Sannin easily defending against the two time travelers. An extra decade of experience and significantly larger chakra reserves did not make up for their physical shortcomings. 

The forest quaked and trees toppled under Sakura’s fists. Naruto’s Rasengans and Rasenshurikens tore up everything, snake summonings, trees, and forced Orochimaru to replicate his body and drop the shell of the Kusagakure kunoichi.

Ninjutsus clashed with great force, ravaging the surrounding area. Explosions sounded, metal clanged and blood splattered the ground.

“Your little friends will not reach help in time.”

Naruto laughed coldly. “We don’t need help.”

Three water dragons condensed courtesy of Sakura, drawing up and arcing down at Orochimaru from three sides. He evaded with a simple substitution and the dragons slammed into a log. 

The Kyuubi’s Jinchuuriki was already on him cloaked in the orange flames of his Tailed Beast mode. Orochimaru’s eyes had widened, long tongue swiping across his lips in anticipation. They boy was hiding his talents from Konoha. None of his spies had reported the ability to work with the Bijuu he held.

Perhaps he should give his seal to this boy instead? No, while powerful, he could not learn all the jutsus in the world without Sasuke-kun’s Sharingan.

Green chakra extended from the girl’s hand, sharpening to a point she wielded with ferocious accuracy. A medic nin like his Kabuto, using medical ninjutsu to kill as well as heal, she aimed for vital points and actually managed to hit his right thigh and left shoulder as she used him to flip over.

Immediately his movements slowed, the muscles cut. These brats were more annoying than he thought. They should have been unable to stand up against him. His mouth opened wide like a snake’s as he prepared to shed this injured body for a pristine one.

Naruto covered the distance between him and the Legendary Sannin in the blink of an eye. His right hand traced a seal in the air.

Orochimaru’s chakra fizzled. “What did you do to me?” he hissed, enraged at not be able to access his chakra. 

Naruto stood, ignoring the wound to his side that was already knitting itself back together. “A binding seal. Your chakra and soul are bound to the body you’re currently in.”

The two teammates moved as one, Naruto shoving a Rasengan into Orochimaru’s chest as Sakura slammed a chakra scalpel into his heart from behind. They stared at his fallen body, his blood quickly pouring from his body and soaking the earth.

It was like a dream to Sakura and Naruto. They had actually killed Orochimaru of the Sannin, and with him dead they saved Sasuke. 

“Let’s go, Sakura.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama.”

* * *

Their three companions had not gone far. Naruto and Sakura reached their position in a half hour. The duo confirmed Orochimaru’s death and the five separated, returning to their own teams.

While dubious of Naruto’s story that his clone stumbled upon the earth scroll they needed in the carnage of another team, Sasuke accepted it. It didn’t matter to him how they got the scroll just that they had it and could now head for the tower at the forest’s center.

He took it upon himself to head to the river to catch fish for dinner. If he left the job to the dobe they’d starve. 

There was already someone at the river. Sasuke’s fingers trailed down to his weapons pouch, curling around the handle of a kunai.

“That’s not necessary, Sasuke-kun.” The other gennin called. “We both from Konoha and my team has both scrolls already. There is no need for us to fight.”

Sasuke stepped out of the brush, cautiously approaching the silver haired bespectacled gennin he recognized from the first exam. The one with the ninja info cards. “Kabuto.”

* * *

Kabuto’s face smiled, but the glint of his glasses hid his glare. Lord Orochimaru had confronted the Uchiha’s team. But, instead of bestowing the Cursed Seal on the boy, his master had been killed. 

Kabuto had felt Orochimaru’s death. His own seal had vanished. The Sannin’s death was actually a boon for him. Now his empire was his for the taking. All he had to do was give out some seals of his own. And Sasuke would accept his gift of power.

“Ne, Sasuke-kun, I’ve already caught plenty of fish. If you want I can give you some and help you carry them back to your camp.”

Blacks eyes looked at him warily, but ultimately accepted his offer. 

Before the boy could react Kabuto had sunk his teeth into the junction of neck and shoulder, leaving behind three black swirls shaped like the tomoe of the Sharingan.

Naruto and Sakura leapt at Sasuke’s scream.

They tore down the path to the river. Sasuke was crumpled on the ground, clutching his neck and groaning in pain.

They gently lifted their teammate, carrying him back to their camp. Orochimaru may have been dead now, but they still couldn't stop the bite. Sakura’s heart clenched painfully as she and Naruto hide him under the roots of the tree Sakura used last time. 

She stared at the mark as Sasuke thrashed in pain. Was it all for nothing? They had come back to save him but still, there it laid, pulsing on his neck. Did it make a difference that they had killed Orochimaru? Would he still turn evil? What would happen when he woke up?

Sakura shuddered, remembering the first time he had gotten it and it chilled her to think of that happening again. The insanity in his eyes. But at least this time Naruto was with her.

 


	6. Chapter 5

“Hokage-sama! We have an emergency!”

Awful scenarios flitted through Sarutobi’s mind, mostly focused on either of the participating Jinchuuriki losing control and unleashing a beast upon Konoha once more. “Was it Naruto-kun? Or one of the Kazekage’s children?” The last thing Konoha needed was to go to war with another village.

The jounin that had burst into his office blinked. “No, sir. It’s Orochimaru. His body’s been found in Training Ground Forty-Four.”

The Sandaime’s pipe clattered on his desk, ashes spilling onto the floor. This was far worse. 

Sarutobi had made many mistakes in his life. Orochimaru was one of them; his worst one. He couldn’t order him killed, despite the atrocities they had discovered him committing. Sarutobi did not know what he had done wrong for the boy to go as wrong as he did. 

His student’s returned spelled bad news. Why now, during the chuunin exams? What did he stand to gain from attack gennin? Was he looking to create an international incident, incite war amongst the Great Nations? They would have to cancel the exams. What excuse would he give to the other villages?

“Alright, have Anko distract him. She’s knows his techniques best. I’ll have a team of my best ANBU out there. . .”

“Hokage-sama, are you alright?” the jounin asked when his leader turned white in a matter of seconds.

“Did you say his body was found?”

“Yes, sir. Killed by simultaneous attacks to his front and back that caved in and shredded his upper chest and a direct strike to the heart from behind that stopped it from beating but left no entry wound.”

The Third Hokage sank into his chair. His student was dead. Orochimaru was dead. How could that be? He may have preferred to not acknowledge the atrocities his student had committed, for it reflected on his abilities as a teacher, but Sarutobi knew how far Orochimaru had perverted nature trying to find immortality. 

What gennin was capable of throwing down with a Sannin and winning? 

The Third Hokage dismissed the jounin, who hadn’t needed the warning that this knowledge was S-class and did not leave his office, and ordered a team of ANBU to procure the body in the basement of the Torture and Interrogation tower where they would make sure that Orochimaru was truly dead.

His former student’s appearance was a bad omen. There was more to this than he knew. Just what was Orochimaru doing in the Forest of Death?

* * *

Sakura had convinced Naruto that they couldn’t remain in the forest. Although the others had already dealt with the team from Sound, she wanted to head for the tower.

There, they could get Sasuke’s mark sealed, maybe with a stronger seal seeing as they would have more time before the second exam ended, a seal that didn’t rely on Sasuke’s will power. Naruto and Sakura were all too aware that Sasuke would accept its power if it meant he could kill his brother.

The Curse Seal stood out starkly against Sasuke’s pale skin, taunting them. It was a symbol of their failure. Naruto had promised that it would be different this time; that he would save him. He shouldn’t have let the Uchiha out of his sight.

“I won’t lose you again.” Naruto swore. Guilt weighed heavily on him, and with no way to lighten it, the blonde shouldered Sasuke and Team Seven ran through the night. 

This time when they opened the scrolls it was Kakashi that was summoned.

“Kakashi-sensei, thank Kami. You have to seal Sasuke’s mark.”

“Mark?” Kakashi blinked. What the hell had happened in the forest? He sucked in a breath when he saw the pulsing black swirls on Sasuke’s neck. “Right, I’ll inform the Hokage and we’ll take care of this.”

His other two students sagged with relief and exhaustion as he took Sasuke into his own arms. “You two did a great job. You’re the second team to finish. The team from Suna arrived a couple of hours ago. Sasuke will be just fine.”

“Come on, let’s go tell the others.” Naruto said wearily as Kakashi vanished.

* * *

Shikamaru was worried when he learned that Sasuke had still been bitten. Not for the Uchiha, but for Naruto and Sakura. The two were so withdrawn.

He had argued that Sasuke could not be saved, but there was a small part of him that whispered Team Seven was capable of miracles. If anyone could have saved Sasuke from his own darkness it would have been Naruto and Sakura. 

Shikamaru never imagined that their battle would be so hard. 

He had returned to his own team, after Team Seven’s fight with Orochimaru, with a face splitting grin on his face. The Sannin’s death was a huge victory for them. He had played it off to Ino and Chouji as having obtained their scroll, but he was actually happy that Naruto and Sakura had accomplished what they set out to do, for with the snake dead Sasuke wouldn’t leave and set the world on fire until the skies bled ashes.

He remembered a conversation between Naruto and Sasuke after the man had razed Konoha to the ground.

* * *

_The smoke was thick, choking. It carried with it the scent of burning flesh. The scent was nauseating and sweet, putrid and steaky, or something like leather being tanned over a flame. The smell of burning flesh was so thick and rich that Shikamaru could imagine its taste._

_It stung his eyes, readily bringing forth tears, and filled his lungs, making him gag._

_Sasuke stood atop the Hokage Mountain, the only part of the village still intact, watching as Konoha burned._

_“I never meant to start a war. I only wanted to see Konoha pay for what it has done to my clan.”_

_Shikamaru snorted derisively. He didn’t fancy seeing the Uchiha’s idea of war if setting a whole village on fire was Konoha getting its due._

_“Why did Konoha have to pay? You already killed Danzou and the Elders. They’re the ones that gave him the orders. You didn’t have to destroy the village. What about all the innocent people? Children born after your clan was massacred? Did they deserve to die? And the rest of the world? You’ve taken your revenge too far, Sasuke. Why do billions of people have to die for a lost cause?”_

_Sasuke had laughed at Naruto, claiming the village was never innocent and all those that grew up within its walls would turn out like Danzou and the Elders._

_Naruto shook his head mournfully. “The fire in your eyes is dead. Something’s made your eyes go cold. You don’t believe that.”_

_Sasuke’s answer was to flee. Naruto turned to him then, a passion burning in his eyes that Shikamaru hadn’t seen since the Fourth Shinobi War._

_“I can save him.”_

* * *

Shikamaru had thought his Hokage had reverted to his idealistic attitude from when Team Seven still existed. The whole world was burning around them and there was only a handful of shinobi left to fight Sasuke.

Truthfully, there wasn’t even a point to saving Sasuke. None of the survivors would accept him among them. Shikamaru thought it would be better to end Sasuke and give him peace and then rebuild the world without any Uchihas.

But Naruto refused to renege on the promise he made to himself, to Sakura, and to Sasuke. Several months tracking down the Uchiha had culminated in the final battle between Naruto and Sasuke and Shikamaru’s change in heart.

He rested a hand on Naruto’s shoulder. “You’re not alone this time. We’ll help you save Sasuke.” Gaara and Temari nodded agreement.

“I know. Thank you.”

* * *

Four more days brought about the end of the second exam with unexpected results. 

Hinata’s team had not made it through. 

A grand total of four teams had passed; three from Konoha—teams Kakashi, Asuma, and Gai, and the sand siblings. The Hokage, Hayate—proctor for the third exam, Ibiki, Anko, and the senseis discussed whether to have a preliminary or let a slightly larger crop take part in the final exam. 

The finals of the chuunin exam were seen by everybody, from civilians up to the Daimyos and Kages. It was both a chance to jockey for attention and future missions and a war deterrent at the same time. Gennin fought to represent the strength of their countries. The dignitaries only wanted to see the cream of the crop; the gennin with outstanding skills and unique abilities and kekkei genkai.

The final decision was to forgo the preliminaries. Twelve was not a very large number six would be too small. The finals would be held in a month.

The numbers were drawn.

Ino versus Sakura

Neji versus Chouji

Sasuke versus Lee

Naruto versus Temari

Tenten versus Kankuro

Gaara versus Shikamaru

* * *

“The finals are going to be a drag. The invasion shouldn’t happen, not without Orochimaru to head it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Suna pulls you two out once the Kazekage’s body is discovered.”

“We can’t take that chance.” Gaara said. “They decided to continue with the invasion last time because the Kazekage already had it all set up.”

The three shinobi from Konoha blinked. They had thought that Orochimaru had posed as the Kazekage to orchestrate the invasion.

“It changes nothing. We’ll put on a show like the Hokage asked us.”

Grins were shared. With four of them being paired off, the audience would be privy to the fight of a lifetime. 

* * *

Team Seven, a sullen Sasuke including, waited for their sensei at their training grounds. Sealing Sasuke’s Curse Mark permanently had been a long and complicated process, but seeing him that morning with a complex seal layered on top had brightened Naruto and Sakura.

In a moment of rarity, their sensei was only an hour late. Naruto had joked once that the world would end if Kakashi ever came early. 

For Naruto and Sakura, it nearly did.

The Sandaime was summoning every team that partook in the second stage of the exams individually to learn about their experience in the forest. He was looking for the ones responsible for the death of a Sannin. 

Sakura knew they were in trouble the second they stepped into the Hokage’s office. 

On either of his sides stood Jiraiya, who, while his body remained relaxed, had a near imperceptible tightening of the skin around his eyes, and Inoichi Yamanaka.

One at a time they were subjected to the Yamanaka clan’s mind techniques. Luckily, Sasuke went first and was excused before they turned to Naruto.

The blonde held his breath as Ino’s father rifled through his memories and tried to not look surprised when Sarutobi said he could step out and didn’t arrest him on the spot and have him dragged to T and I. 

“Now that that’s over we can get to training!” Kakashi gleefully rubbed his hands together as a pale Sakura joined them in the hallway. Not falling in line with their memories, as many things were now that the chuunin exams had begun, Kakashi did not run off with Sasuke to the desert and leave his other two students to their own devices. 

He had them run through an obstacle course, tied together with chakra strings of course, so they couldn’t advance without their teammates. What looked to be a rather plain course was riddled with traps so the three gennin were dirt covered, scratched, and crispy when they finally completed it.

Kakashi then dumped them at the beginning and told them to do it faster.

* * *

"What's your opinion, Inoichi?"

Inochi Yamanka straightened. "I sensed no falsehoods, Hokage-sama. None of our gennin encounter Orochimaru in the Forest of Death."

Sarutobi exhaled smoke. "I see. Thank you, Inoichi." The blonde man bowed to the Hokage and left. "And you, Jiraiya?"

"There's something wrong with this situation. Naruto's chakra levels are off the charts, and the Nara's and his teammate aren't far behind. Physically, they shouldn't be able to hold so much chakra. It's more than I had at their age." the Toad Sage reported.

"Do you think Orochimaru got to them as well?"

Jiraiya immediately said no. "Sasuke doesn't have this much chakra. Whatever it's from, it's not his."

"Are there any other explanations?"

"I don't know, sensei."

"Then we shall watch and wait. Whatever they are hiding will come to light."

* * *

“I went through the same thing. I figured they must have just been looking at our time in the forest; otherwise we would all be in custody right now,” said Shikamaru. 

“That doesn’t explain how they did see them fight Orochimaru. The Yamanaka had complete access to their memories. Even if they were only looking for those involving the exam there’s no way they’d miss that Naruto and Sakura killed Orochimaru.” Gaara pointed out.

**“I briefly took all your memories of the future and the fight with the snake into my mindscape. There were safely out of reach behind my barriers.”**

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin at Kurama’s voice. Not once had the fox spoken since they returned. He had felt him stir, his emotions blended with his own sometimes, but Kurama had remained silent. Naruto feared that the Kyuubi had used too much of his chakra to power the time travel jutsu and had not been sent back with them.

**“I’ve been merging with my past self, much like you were.”**

_“Does that mean there are two of you in the seal?”_

**“Yes. You now have all my chakra at your disposal.”**

Naruto nearly burst out laughing. Compared to his twelve year old self, he was ridiculously overpowered. His own reserves were the size of Tsunade and Jiraiya combined. Add on top of that the full might of the Kyuubi, even if it was two yang halves and not both halves, he had more chakra than anyone in the five great shinobi villages.

* * *

Naruto watched enviously as Temari and Shikamaru and Sakura and Gaara walked away from that night’s meeting hand in hand. Despite being in back in a Konoha bursting with life and surrounded by the Konoha twelve and his fellow time travelers, he felt so alone.

‘I wish Hinata were here,” he thought. He was the only one whose partner didn’t come back with him. And Naruto had no idea how to approach her so he could get her back. Before he had won enough recognition from beating Neji that the Hyuuga clan didn’t rush their heiress away whenever he approached. 

This time around, he wouldn’t have that chance because he was facing Temari in the finals and not Neji. He supposed it was true, that you didn’t know what you had until it’s gone. Naruto could remember the night he proposed.

* * *

_Naruto had stolen her from the Hyuuga compound, spiriting her away to their spot atop the Yondaime’s stone head. The couple simply cuddled under the stars well into the night; watching the night turn blue as the sun rose again._

_Naruto had proudly told her how Tsunade was finally giving the hat to him and she said, “I love the way you smile.”_

_The blonde had been struck silent by her simple words._

_Was love that easy? Was it all about wanting the other person to be happy? To want to see them smile?_

_“Will you marry me, Hinata? Cause the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly.”_

_She had thrown herself at him exuberantly, shouting yes so loudly that they woke some of the villagers._

* * *

The Third Hokage summoned the finalists two weeks before the third exam to notify them of a change in procedure. 

Given the nature of missions, rarely ever done solo, the Kazekage insisted that the finals would be team matches instead of individual matches.


	7. Chapter 6

Naruto had been over the moon at the changes to the third exam. If there was one thing Team Seven was good at; it was teamwork. Their motto was never leave a teammate behind. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.

Kakashi had instilled that belief in Naruto during the bell test and he lived by it. This time Team Seven would remain whole. He would not let Sasuke leave them. 

So the finals being set up as team matches favored Team Seven. Kakashi must have known about the upcoming change because he had been developing their teamwork further from the second they exited the forest.

Their bonds had grown so much stronger in just two weeks. With Naruto and Sakura showing more of what they were truly capable of Sasuke no longer viewed them as the dead last and the pathetic fangirl. Whenever Kakashi had them fight two on one, Sasuke fully expected to win.

* * *

The first time he lost to them he scoffed. The second time he stiffened with rage. After the third consecutive loss he realized they had become so much stronger in a short period of time. He recalled their Acadmey days when Naruto couldn’t Henge or make a single clone and when using chakra exhausted Sakura. 

Sasuke had never cared where his two teammates ran off to when Kakashi called an end to their training. They were only dragging him down. He should be training one on one with Kakashi. If he didn’t train harder and longer and more often he would never kill that man.

And that was all that mattered. He needed to improve quicker. He needed to become stronger. 

Sasuke had been so angry to learn that his Curse Seal of Heaven had been completely sealed. With that power he would closer to his goal. He could feel its power thrumming beneath his skin, pushing against the seal that restrained it. 

But then they started overpowering him. They moved like they were one mind in two bodies, communicating without talking or even looking at the other. 

After the seventh straight loss Sasuke started thinking. He had never seen this level of skill from his teammates before. Did they continue training when Kakashi dismissed them? If so, just what were they doing to give such a marked improvement?

Sasuke had always viewed the Uchiha clan as superior. His clan was descended from the Sage of the Six Paths. He wore the red and white uchiwa proudly on his back.

And due to his clan relation he had looked down on his teammates, seeing them as weak and inferior. But that wasn’t true. If Naruto and Sakura could be this strong with their own power, Sasuke would too. He would not look to others to hand him power.

He would kill Itachi with his own strength and avenge his clan with the power only an Uchiha possessed. 

* * *

Sakura almost thought that Kakashi could see the future with the way he had emphasized team training before the Hokage had even announced the change to the final exam. And she loved him for it because Sasuke was finally seeing how strong the three of them could be as a team.

Sakura had noticed Sasuke watching her and Naruto closely during training. He studied them almost like he thought they were a puzzle or a riddle that would be solved if he spent enough time working on it.

The complete flip in attitude with regards to them thrilled the pinkette. 

They were making headway with him. Maybe, if they won the chuunin exams, Sasuke would see that he could rely on his teammates and depend on them to help him accomplish his goal. He would see that he didn’t need to leave Konoha to get stronger.

 After all, if the dead last from no clan and a civilian girl could become as strong as they did, Sasuke would see that the power, the support, and the teachers he needed were in Konoha.

* * *

Kakashi had a twisted sense of training.

Sakura could see the logic in it. Somewhat. If they observed someone’s daily routine they learned more about him.

He cheerfully informed his team that morning that for the next three days they would be walking in their teammate’s shoes. To Kakashi that meant two members following the third around for an entire day.

Sasuke was up first, and surprisingly their broody teammate did not complain about their sensei’s latest team building exercise. He just told them to be outside his apartment at four in the morning.

To Sakura, the lack of comments and acceptance and willingness to go along with Kakashi’s interesting methods was proof that he was changing. And for the better. If he came to value teamwork and the bonds they shared, he would never lose himself to the darkness he harbored. 

Sasuke silently invited them inside the next morning, telling them to help themselves to the food laid out on the table.

Sakura’s first instinct was to scold him. Onigiri with tomatoes was not a healthy or balanced meal. But Kakashi said that they were to remain silent, just observe and partake in his activities. On the fourth day they would share observations, tips, and criticisms.

So the rosette bit her tongue and grabbed a rice ball.

Their dark haired teammate started training immediately. His mornings were devoted to learning his clan’s fire jutsus. As far as using fire jutsus went, Naruto could stand toe to toe with Sasuke, his lack of affinity for the nature pushed aside by the sheer amount of chakra he put into the technique.

An affinity for a chakra nature didn’t automatically make one more skilled at certain jutsus, it only made it so it required less chakra to use that style than someone who didn’t have the affinity. It was even more difficult if your inherent nature was weak against the element you were using. 

Not that Naruto ever let the laws of nature stop him from doing anything he set his mind to.

Sasuke trained four hours straight until it was time for Team Seven to meet with Kakashi. The silver haired jounin made them wait the typical three hours before arriving to tell them that they would not meet during their shadowing exercise, but he fully expected them to wait at the Team Seven’s training ground for three hours because they did that every day.

The Uchiha boy then trekked a ways into the forest until he reached a clearing with eight targets that splitting from overuse and weathered with age. Sasuke jumped into the air, twisting and launching ten kunai. In quick succession eight of them thudded into the targets’ center.

Sakura was curious over the two extra kunai until Sasuke walked around the back of a tree to a hidden target. The tenth kunai was supposed to change the projector of the ninth kunai so it could hit the target in his blind spot. Given the worn state of the wooden targets, Sasuke spent many hours attempting to hit the center of every target and was clearly irritated with his failure to do so with the ninth hidden target.

Watching Sasuke train his Sharingan was the most interesting thing Sakura had seen all day. 

He started by loading pressure traps and purposefully triggering them. His red eyes blazed and spun, tracking the trajectory of a hundred shuriken and kunai at once. As with his other regimens, Sasuke repeated and repeated and repeated his training, refusing to leave the training grounds until the sky was black.

It really was no wonder in the original timeline that Sasuke was always prepared with the amount of time he spent training.

* * *

The next day was Naruto’s turn. 

Sasuke walked silently besides Sakura. He had known that Naruto was also an orphan, but he hadn’t known about the blonde’s living conditions. The village provided all orphans a monthly allowance if they promised to enter the shinobi tract. 

His apartment building was rundown. The paint was peeling off the walls. Naruto was quick to usher them out of the district amidst the glares and angry mutterings of the few villagers that were awake, but not so quick that he didn’t lock all three locks on his door and activate several traps around his door and window.

When Sasuke asked about it, Naruto brushed it off as his apartment building got broken into every other day and it was better to be prepared and to protect his home.

But it didn’t make sense to the Uchiha. Given the money he was given each month, Naruto should be able to rent an apartment in the same building as him. He couldn’t understand the reasoning behind the villagers’ treatment of him. Sasuke observed Naruto closely, noting how he reacted to the people that spat insults at him or cursed him or denied him service. They acted like Naruto was evil reincarnated there to kill them all and he ignored them with practice ease.

He joined Naruto on his morning run around the village, stretching afterwards as he did, and then watched as Naruto took advantage of his ability to make a hundred copies of himself. The blonde separated his clones into groups. It was split pretty evenly between those learning and practicing a few wind style jutsus and those that walked on top of the Naka River.

Without any warning the Shadow Clones turned on their creator, beginning the most one sided fight Sasuke had ever witness. Although the clones had all the abilities of the original Naruto was dispelling them left and right.

When there was only one blonde wearing an orange jumpsuit Team Seven went to Ichiraku’s for lunch. Sasuke and Sakura ate one bowl a piece while Naruto consumed twenty-seven. 

Then Naruto did something completely unexpected, which was actually normal for him. He had been nicknamed the number one most unpredictable ninja in the Academy.

He gave them a foxy grin, enhanced by the whiskers on his cheeks, and Henged into a nondescript shinobi in ANBU garb. 

Sasuke and Sakura followed Naruto on the rooftops as he silently appeared beside a jounin and informed him that the Sandaime had summoned him. Then he snuck up on another and gave him the same story.

Three. Seven. Eleven. Sixteen. Twenty-two. 

Experienced jounin of many years of service never thought to question the dog masked ANBU informing them that the Hokage needed them. And Naruto kept his ruse up until another ANBU relayed the Sandaime’s orders that Naruto come to his office.

Cackling, Naruto dropped the Henge and resumed his bright appearance and led several ANBU and jounin on a merry chase through the village. And ultimately, when Naruto allowed them to drag him before the Third Hokage, and he most definitely let them catch him, the Hokage sighed and gave him a speech about a ninja’s responsibility and let him go without any serious reprimands.

Naruto’s district was rowdier as he walked home. When he sunnily told them he see them bright and early the next morning for Sakura’s day and bounced into his apartment, Sasuke had an epiphany.

Naruto could Henge into anyone, make a new identity for himself, but didn’t. He didn’t have to be the demon boy. He lived in the worst district in Konoha and the villagers hated him. Why did he choose to suffer their treatment?

Because he found friendship in Team Seven.

Having bonds gave him a reason to live as Naruto. Having precious people to fight for and protect made him stronger and gave him the drive to become even stronger for them.

* * *

Naruto thought he would be bored walking in Sakura’s shoes for a day.

They had previously warned Shikamaru of their sensei’s intentions so he didn’t join them on their morning run the past two days. He had said it was a drag and that he’d run in the afternoon.

But, given their unique situation, Naruto and Sakura had to make up a daily routine, because there was no way they could bring Sasuke to the Nara forest and include him in their plots and debates on how to proceed with their future knowledge or in their spars to keep their future abilities honed.

He could see Sasuke connecting the dots when Sakura started her day, after sneaking out her bedroom window, with a job around the village’s wall. He was seeing the correlation between his and Sakura’s vast improvement since Team Seven’s formation and their nearly identical training regimens.

After her run, Sakura continued with physical training, practicing basic taijutsu styles until her body flowed from one kata to the next and she looked like she was dancing.

Naruto hid a yawn when Sakura spent her afternoon in the library researching various water style and medical ninjutsus. He half thought she was trying to bore them to death.

In the end, the pinkette’s day was the least eventful but most rounded out practice. She took to heart the idea that being good in all areas was better than being phenomenal in one and lackluster in the others.

* * *

“Alright. Now let’s share your experiences, starting with Sakura.”

Sakura gave Kakashi the evil eye for making her go first and assigning her to be the one to criticize Sasuke. The Uchiha wasn’t going to take one word she said seriously.

Nevertheless. “You clearly have amazing stamina. You train all hours of the day, rarely stopping to eat or rest. You would have better results if you took care of your body. You needed a more balanced diet, one with more carbs and meats. And your training would benefit if you found someone else to train with.”

She sighed when he raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “You’ve learned all you can on your own at this point. All you’re doing now is perfecting techniques you already know. You have years to make those techniques second nature. You really should focus on branching out.

“Also, your Sharingan needs more training. Your kekkei genkai grants you an incredible clarity of perception, allowing you to track fast moving objects.” Sakura referenced his dodging simultaneously sprung traps. “But you’ve done nothing to train its ability to see chakra or perceive or cast genjutsu.

“At this level, you need someone else to train with.” She concluded.

Kakashi didn’t give Sasuke the opportunity to fight Sakura’s analysis and told him to get on with his own of Naruto’s day.

“You’re more skilled than I thought you were.” Sasuke admitted. “But you stretch yourself too thin. I know that Shadow Clones transfer memory and experience to the caster, but you use so many at a time that when all of it floods your brain, you only actually get a portion of what they learned. And with your chakra distributed evenly amongst them, you didn’t make much headway with your chakra control or jutsus.

“You would also benefit from training with another person. Fighting yourself is a pointless endeavor.  Your Henge is flawless.”

Kakashi took his momentary pause as his cue for Naruto to start, but Sasuke kept going.

“Most importantly, you need to do something about the village’s treatment of you.”

Silence followed Sasuke’s proclamation. He was the only member of Team Seven that was not aware of the burden Naruto carried; therefore he couldn’t understand that Naruto couldn’t do anything about how the villagers treated him. He couldn’t force them to see him and not the Bijuu he jailed.

“I suppose there’s something you should know.” Sasuke leaned forward at Naruto’s admission. “That night, twelve years ago. The Yondaime didn’t kill the Kyuubi. It’s impossible to kill a Bijuu. There a manifestation of pure chakra. Instead he sealed it in a newborn baby.”

“You.”

Naruto swallowed. “Me. I’m the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.”

Sasuke fell silent, and for a moment Naruto feared that he would curse him, blame him for the deaths of those that died that night. “You’re like me.”

Naruto smiled wanly. He supposed that was true. Both orphans of tragic circumstances. Both forced to carry an unwanted burden. Both had access to a terrible, corrupt power. Both branded with seals to prevent them from accessing a second source of power. 

Only Naruto’s seal was different, designed to allow Kurama’s chakra to absorb into his coils so he could use it safely but not let the fox out. Sasuke’s Curse Seal was one hundred percent sealed off. He couldn’t access it at all.

Naruto quickly rattled off Sakura’s pros and cons. “You have great chakra control, though small reserves. You know that physical strength and stamina are your weakest point and you took the effort to work on that. You spend too much time in the library looking up new jutsus to try. You should just pick one at a time and focus on that one. 

“Ultimately, you’re skills are well rounded and you have a knack for medical jutsus.” He finished.

Kakashi clapped his hands. “Good job, team. We’ll meet back here in the morning. We’ll start on anticipating your teammate’s move and reacting to either defend or press an advantage.”

* * *

Sakura felt like she had been smacked in the face when she saw both Yamato and Sai at their training grounds.

Not once had she thought about the wood user since coming to the past, and she had all but forgotten about Sai after he hadn’t made it through the first exam. Both males were just as much a part of Team Seven as she, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were. 

“This here is Yamato, who’s going to help me demonstrate today’s training,” the masked man pointed to the brunette who held a flashlight under his face. “And Sai, who has a unique jutsu that will suit today’s training.”

Sasuke glowered at the boy who could almost be his twin. The same dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin, not to mention a fondness for dark clothing. If it wasn’t for the obviously fake smile on Sai’s face, some might have mistaken them to be related. 

Kakashi then proceeded to show them what they would be doing. 

Sai’s brush raced across his scroll and a myriad of ink creatures leapt of the page. Snarling lions, writhing snakes, charging bears, and flying birds. Even at the age of twelve, Sai’s mastery of his ink techniques was amazing. 

But not enough to phase the two ex-ANBUs. 

Kakashi thanked Sai and Yamato after he and the wood user thoroughly proved their point. Sai smiled politely and said it was his pleasure. When their sensei said it would be their turn to fight off both him and Yamato, Naruto jumped to include Sai.

“Do you want to help us Sai? Your ink jutsu is pretty cool. And we’d have even numbers.” Naruto raised his arms behind his head, like he could care less if Sai chose to join them or not, but there was no mistaking his tone that said ‘come here.’

Sai responded to the blonde’s authoritive tone.  “I’d like that, leader.”

Five people stared at him. Naruto and Sakura shared a secret smile. It seemed that Sai’s Root training wasn’t ingrained yet and he still had some semblance of social ability. Or Naruto radiated power.

Team Seven was finally altogether. There had never been a point in the future when all six members were present. Sasuke was gone, Naruto was training, Kakashi was in the hospital, Yamato was kidnapped. 

They worked together much better at the age of twelve than at fifteen. Naruto and Sakura each paired with Sasuke and Sai, hoping to tone down their natural tendency to do exactly what Kakashi was trying to teach them. 

Naruto and Sasuke, past or future, always worked well together when they weren’t antagonizing the other or trying to outdo him. And Sai, with his slightly more open personality, was much easier to work with seeing as he wasn’t insulting her every time he took a breath. 

Still, training went down exactly like it had in the future, only with one more gennin locked inside the wooden prison. 

For Naruto, it was the sixth most amazing day of his life, the first five being when his met his father, his mother, marrying Hinata, being named Hokage, and using the time travel scroll. Team Seven was whole for the first time in years.

And now not only did he have the chance to save Sasuke, but they could save Sai too.


	8. Chapter 7

 At first, Gaara thought he would hate reliving his gennin days.

Even if he did have his sister at his side, Kankuro was still terrified of him. The villagers hated and feared him again, avoiding him like the plague, hiding inside their houses whenever they caught sight of him. And it would be a few years before he could justifiably take up his position as Kazekage. He didn't get it until he was fourteen originally, and no amount of change in personality would convince the citizens of Suna to follow the lead of a twelve year old boy that housed a demon he couldn't control.

But Gaara found himself enjoying it. For one, it really was a lot easier this time around with a Temari that wasn't afraid he would kill her for talking to him. Kankuro nearly had a heart attack when she laughed at the shadows under his eyes their first day back in the past, teasing him and asking if he had gotten enough sleep with a suggestive wriggle of her eyebrows.

But Gaara didn't mind his sister's gentle ribbing, because it meant he wasn't alone. Being alone was the worst feeling. It was dark and cold and Gaara never wanted to go back to that place. He was thankful for all the friends he now had, and those that he would have in the future, thanks to Naruto.

It also helped that he had better control over the Ichibi. His seal may have been weak, the reason for his madness and blood lust originally, but the overall strength of the seal was moot if Jinchuuriki and Bijuu were working together.

And Gaara had appeased Shukaku by promising him the blood of many they would kill for the greater good.

For another, he finally experienced the joy of pulling pranks.

Naruto had regaled him with tales of his various schemes as an academy student, from painting the Hokage Mountain in broad daylight, to flooding the Torture and Interrogation and Hokage towers, to switching all the Inuzuka's dogs for cats.

The future Fifth Kazekage had the rare chance to have some fun. And what easier target was there than his own brother?

They had already set the puppet user on edge when Gaara and Temari greeted Team Seven the day before the chuunin exams began. Kankuro had nearly popped a blood vessel in his head when his insane brother hugged his pink haired girlfriend.

Gaara didn't think his brother slept even an hour in the forest. The red head would have sacrificed blood to the demon a lot sooner if it meant he could sleep. After a month of a happy, smiling and rested Gaara, Kankuro was jumping at his own shadow.

The best part came when they received news from the imposter Kazekage, stating that the finals of the chuunin exam would be a team event. Logically, the future Kazekage could see the reason behind the change. It was more strategic for Suna to unleash their secret weapon, him, when Gaara had his two siblings present to keep the Konoha shinobi off him while he transformed.

Kankuro actually fainted.

However, the aftermath was not as amusing. With no other choice Kankuro attempted to incorporate his mastery of puppets to his brother and sister's already combined offensive and defensive strategy. But he flinched every time Gaara's sand came within three feet of him.

With Kankuro freaking out at every turn about getting crushed by his sand, Gaara imagined that this was how Sakura and Naruto were feeling. Given they may have had it harder having to deal with the Uchiha's mammoth pride. Kankuro would eventually overcome his fear of his brother, coming to trust him and support his choice to become Kazekage.

Sasuke's pride would only grow to eclipse his hatred.

But Gaara would do whatever Naruto asked in order to save the Uchiha, because Naruto had saved him from himself.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru groaned for the umpteenth time, gazing dreamily at the free floating clouds. It was actually the twenty-seventh, but he only knew that because Ino was complaining about his constant groaning.

Being back in the past was starting to lose its appeal. Stars knew he had shed many, many tears over his team's death and would have, and did, do anything to have them back. But was Ino always so loud, so bossy, so . . . troublesome.

The blonde shrieked in his hear like a banshee, mostly over the third exam's twist. The first thing out of her mouth at that announcement was, not unsurprisingly, an exclamation of how cool Sasuke-kun was and how the Uchiha would be able to fight any team ("especially those freaks from Suna" which made Shikamaru want to strangle her) singlehandedly. Then she demanded Asuma start practice earlier to maximize their available time to train.

"Ino-Shika-Cho is the best combination of abilities. Winning the final exam will be easy," she said with a flip of her glossy blonde hair. "But that doesn't mean we can slack off. We have a reputation to uphold. A team designed for their teamwork and compatibility can't lose. We'd be the laughing stock of the village. So Chouj, stop eating! And Shikamaru! You lazy bum! Get up. We just started training, you can't sleep now."

Asuma liked Ino's initiative and enthusiasm, and was actually encouraging it, pushing his gennin to train longer and harder and more often. He even called in their fathers to demonstrate how the older Ino-Shika-Cho trio worked like a well-oiled machine.

In the same breathe he ordered them to use the time they had out of official practice to further improve upon their clan techniques. Shikamaru had cursed out his sensei to his fellow time travelers for that decision. He was a hundred percent certain that his father knew he was failing at the techniques on purpose.

It was all so troublesome. How was he supposed to meet with Naruto and the others and make contingency plans for the impending invasion if his past team was eating up all his time? They had no guess as to who had taken Orochimaru's place as the Kazekage and requested team structured finals. They had no plan to deal with Kabuto, or any idea where he was. The Snake Sannin's second hand man had all but vanished at the end of the Forest of Death, probably back to one of their numerous hidden lairs to perform more experiments.

In the end, their only plan was to derail the invasion and hopefully save the Third Hokage. The Sandaime could still call Tsunade back to the village to take over as the Fifth Hokage and just by being alive he would force Danzou to keep to his shadows.

It was a tall order when they didn't have all the answers they needed.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If possible, Naruto thought Sai was even creepier at thirteen than he was at sixteen.

Ever since he had invited the artist to join their team training sessions the boy had followed him like a Nara's shadow. He was always asking questions and smiling and calling him leader instead of dickless. Sakura claimed it was because Naruto was charismatic. It was impossible to not love his sunny disposition. Sai certainly orbited around him like the orange wearing shinobi was his sun.

And maybe Naruto was his sun. Sai was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. He wanted to learn more about Naruto by observing him, whether he was training, sleeping, pulling pranks, shopping, meeting with Iruka, playing with Konohamaru and his friends, or simply walking. Sai went as far as to follow him home and slip into bed next to him.

Naruto promptly shoved him out the front door.

Whatever the reason, it unnerved him to see Sai so open and genuinely friendly. But this was the perfect chance to save Sai from Root and Danzou's machinations.

If they could teach him about the importance of emotions and the strength of having bonds, Sai might be able to join the official ranks of active shinobi and not hide in the shadows robotically carrying out Danzou's every self-serving order.

Shikamaru had suggested the first time he and Sakura brought the topic of Sai up, after the written portion of the exams, that Naruto gain his loyalty and then use Sai to infiltrate Root and keep an eye on the bitter old war hawk.

Naruto hated the idea of using his friend like that. Sai did not give his loyalty easily, but once he came to appreciate the friendships he had built with Team Kakashi, he would never risk them. And there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep them. So if Naruto said it jokingly, Sai wouldn't hesitate and offer to do it.

His willingness to do whatever Naruto asked killed him in the future.

But Naruto was the Hokage first, and if he needed Sai to pretend to be a Root agent to save his village, he wouldn't think twice about asking him to return underground.

However, the issue of Sai would have to wait.

Naruto was sprawled in the dirt. Both Sasuke and Sakura lay near him, their heads only inches from his own so that they looked like the letter 'y'. Kakashi, by means of an unnamed jutsu he had stolen from a Kumo kunoichi, had put a tether on them that only allowed them to move ten feet away from their other two teammates. And then he gave Team Seven the bell test for a second time.

Needless to say, adjusting to the restricted movement took a while. Long enough for the timer to run out. And the second run didn't go so well either. It was harder than it looked to coordinate the different attack styles of three close range to mid-range fighters.

"Tomorrow's the big day," said Sakura conversationally.

Naruto whooped, punching the air. "And we're going to kick ass and take names. Believe it."

"Aa." Sasuke agreed.

"Ne, do you guys want to go for some victory ramen?"

"We have to win first, Naruto."

"Don't talk like that Sakura-chan. Of course we're going to win. No one can match our teamwork."

"Let's go." Surprisingly it was Sasuke that agreed first.

"Really, teme? You're actually going to come? In that case, dinner's on me."

Sakura smacked him upside the head. "You would be paying anyway, you idiot, because you eat twenty times what anyone else does."

"Am I invited to dinner, leader? From what I've read, the evening meal is when you share what happened that day with your family, but I've never had someone I could tell about how horrible my day was."

Naruto jumped a foot in the air. That had not changed about Sai. The guy still based all his knowledge of emotions on books he read. Though Naruto was glad that Sai was already comparing Team Seven to a family unit and viewed himself as a part of it. "Shit. Don't sneak up on me like that Sai. Just where did you come from anyway?"

The pale boy shot him a puzzled look. "Well, thirteen years ago my father fertilized one of my mother's eggs with his sperm. . ."

"Woah! Stop right there!" Naruto clapped his hands over his ears, slightly green in the face. "I don't need a detailed description of the birds and the bees, believe it!"

"Then why did you ask?"

"It means where were you a few seconds ago, location wise, not how did you come into being. It's a figure of speech."

"I see."

Naruto seriously doubted that. Sai said the phrase "I see," as often as he said "Believe it!" Which was practically at the end of every sentence. But he decided to introduce Sai to the best pleasure that was ramen a few years early.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke lay awake, staring at the bare ceiling above his bed.

He probably should be asleep, resting in preparation for the finals the next day. But he couldn't sleep. His mind was racing. Thoughts coming and going before he comprehended them.

Naruto and Sakura were not the people he thought they were.

Both of them were much more mature than expected of a twelve year old. Naruto didn't goof around as often and Sakura hadn't asked him on a date in over a month.

Naruto planned and strategized where he once leapt in with a hundred copies of himself screaming to not be underestimated. His mind was sharper. He still used flashy insanely overpowered jutsus, but in a smarter manner. His jutsu repertoire had increased to include more than just his Shadow Clone jutsu and his Sexy jutsu.

And Naruto had this aura around him that commanded respect and obedience. He radiated confidence and intelligence. When the blonde barked a command, Sasuke followed through. When he shouted a warning, Sasuke moved.

And Sakura. Had he imagined her fangirling? Mistaken genuine concern for his well-being and invitations for two friends to eat for something less? Did he see infatuation in her because he saw it in every other female that hung around him?

Because the Sakura he saw during practice could not be more different. She wasn't talentless like he first concluded. He witnessed her using medical jutsus on daily basis; even let her heal a broken ankle once when he refused to go to the hospital. He had hidden the injury, carefully distributing his weight so that it would not be noticed, but her green eyes had narrowed poisonously and she sweetly asked if he would let her look at it. Surprised that Sakura had even noticed the injury at all, didn't say anything to stop her from grabbing his leg.

She used elemental jutsus too, mostly water but there were a few earth and one or two wind and fire, and genjutsu during spars, and the force she hit with immediately left the recipient with large purple bruises and aching bones.

As difficult as it was for him to grasp, Naruto and Sakura were not the unskilled shinobi he thought they were. They were stronger than him. It was amazing how much stronger they had gotten since they graduated the academy.

If he trained with them more often would he be as strong? Kakashi's intense team based training had proven how beneficial working together could be. They had managed to outwit the jounin and won a spar against him. It was only once, but Sasuke couldn't do that on his own. Kakashi had readily defeated him during the first bell test.

Could Naruto and Sakura help him get strong enough to kill that man? Would they let him join them considering the way he had treated them as insignificant since Team Seven had been formed?

He rolled over, ignoring the twinge he thought he felt from Orochimaru's Cursed Mark. Sasuke was being stupid. Naruto and Sakura would never shut him out.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night Naruto met the others in the Nara's forest for the last time.

"No long battles tomorrow. Don't hold back. Finish them off quickly." Naruto ordered. They would need all their chakra to fight of the person masquerading as Suna's leader.

"But won't your senseis and the Hokage find the sudden changes suspicious?" Temari asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, but they probably have already cottoned onto some changes and it's only a matter of time before they realize they're not seeing everything we can do. They definitely won't believe that we've improved so much in just a few months. We might have to tell them the truth once the exams are over."

"You can't tell me you mean to use your Rasenshuriken tomorrow?" Sakura asked in disbelief. "That's a dangerous jutsu. S-rank! Kakashi said you're not to use it against comrades. You'll tear someone to shreds!"

The blonde reeled back as if Sakura had slapped him, a sensation he was unfortunately awfully familiar with. "What? No! That's not what I meant! I'd never hurt a comrade!" Sakura flushed guiltily and looked away from his horrified blue eyes.

"I think," Gaara interjected smoothly, "that Naruto means for us to show off a marked improvement, but nothing that we shouldn't know. However, the more advanced abilities would go unnoticed in the chaos of the invasion."

Shikamaru exhaled. "Maa, it's easier for you two. You're from a different village. No one knows what you are capable of."

Temari reached a hand over to pinch a cheek. "Don't worry. You're such a lazy bastard that no one knows what you can do either. And anything you do tomorrow will be attributed to the Nara genius."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was flanked by Sakura and Sasuke as Team Seven waited for the third exam's proctor, Genma Shiranui, to explain the rules (the fight continues until only members of one team are standing or I choose to end it) and how they would be matched up.

"We decided the only way to do this fairly was to place the two rookie teams in separate brackets. That way, everyone is in the dark about their opponents' abilities." Genma spoke around the senbon between his teeth.

To his right Sakura snorted. It was a good plan, a good set up. And it would have worked. If there weren't five time travelers present.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seemed the more things changed the more they stayed the same.

Team Seven was set to fight Team Gai first. So Naruto could still beat the destiny out of Neji, and it would be even easier because, by traveling to the past, they proved that destiny doesn't exist. Not that he could tell the Hyuuga about that. And Sasuke would get to fight Lee, a confrontation that didn't occur this time.

That, of course, left Shikamaru to fight his future wife again.

Team Ten and the Sand Siblings left the arena for the viewing box reserved for the competitors.

Naruto stared down his future as good as brother-in-law, since Hinata saw Neji as more of a brother than just a cousin. His pearly eyes stared back, disdain evident. Naruto would change that. He had changed the ways of the Hyuuga clan once, and he would damn well do it again.

"Hey, teme, bet you a bowl of ramen you can't beat bushy brows."

"Not a chance, dobe. We just had ramen yesterday."

"Do you want something else instead?"

"Omusubi."

"With okaka and tomatoes right?" Sakura added.

"Aa." Naruto intentionally shuddered. Rice, dried tuna and tomatoes. And he was the one that ate unhealthily? At least ramen had noodles, meat, fruits and vegetables paired together in a manner that was appealing to eat. Just the smell of Sasuke's favorite food put Naruto off his lunch.

"A challenge!" Lee exclaimed, revealing all his sparkly white teeth. "Then, I too, Rock Lee, Handsome Devil of the Hidden Leaf Village, challenge you, Neji Hyuuga. The first one to defeat their opponent wins. I wish to fight, you, Sasuke Uchiha. A true test of grueling training against natural ability. I will prove that, with enough hard work, sweat, blood and tears, that the so called loser can defeat the genius."

"Are you done yet?" Genma asked mildly. Lee ducked his head, his whole face burning up. "Right then, first match, begin!"

"Formation U!" Naruto shouted. He could feel thousands of pairs of eyes upon him as he and Sasuke darted forward, keeping in line with each other, and Sakura went the opposite direction to cover their backs and prepare for attack plan A.

An entire stadium filled with people who simultaneously wanted Sasuke Uchiha to win but called out for the demon's crushing defeat. The ironic thing, Naruto thought as he engaged Neji with a kunai, was that he had won, while Sasuke lost to Lee the first time they fought.

Naruto had no doubts regarding the outcome of this fight. Had they been the twelve year old Naruto and Sakura that had not yet witnessed war and still viewed the world through rose colored glasses, Team Gai would stand an equal chance of winning.

But their one extra year of experience could not compare against Naruto and Sakura's decade. Honestly, the pair didn't need Sasuke to fight to win, but pushing him away would defeat their purpose of making him see them as his support, his friends, the people that would always have his back.

Sakura was already channeling chakra to her right fist as she pushed off backwards from her two teammates. There was a large gray mass in the corner of her eye and she bolted toward it. In four seconds she had crossed to the boulder, nimbly jumped on top of it, and launched herself into the air over the five blurs of fighting gennin.

Their timing was perfect.

Sasuke and Naruto pulled away, with Neji's Byakugan still trained on the blonde, which let Sakura slip through his blind spot and right in between the three older gennin. Her extended fist slammed into the earth, and as quickly as she hit the ground, Sakura was on her feet between her boys.

As per her Hokage's order, Sakura withheld none of her strength and her chakra enhanced fist devastated the arena floor. Screams rent the air as civilian and shinobi alike gawked at the brute strength the slip of a pink haired girl possessed. The senbon dropped out of Genma's open mouth.

Neji leapt clear of the still billowing cloud of dirt, one arm wrapped under the armpit of his teammates.

When the haze settled the crowd saw the two teams separated by a massive crater at least a hundred feet deep and nearly the size of the stadium around. The six gennin and Genma only had a small precipice of ground at the base of the stadium's concrete walls to stand upon.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Kazekage nearly threw himself out of the Kage's box at Sakura's move. "That's quite the show of strength. Scarily similar to Tsunade."

In contrast to the leader of the Hidden Sand Village, Sarutobi leaned back in his seat, hands fisting on his chair's arms until his knuckles were white at the tremors. Such strength required a level of chakra control unheard of for a kunoichi from the civilian sector that had only been a gennin for four months.

"Kami, just what are you teaching those students of yours, Hatake?" He murmured to himself. The fight moved to the bottom of the massive crater.

"Hatake?" The Kazekage repeated. "She's one of Kakashi Hatake's students?"

"Yes, along with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha," answered the Sandaime Hokage. "It's a marvelous display of teamwork, don't you agree?" He asked as hundreds of Naruto's Shadow Clone's, previously disguised as rubble and dirt, dog piled Tenten. Sasuke then tossed eight shuriken, directing them with thin invisible wires to circle the weapons mistress.

The clones popped as Sasuke tightened his strings, pulling them taut, until only Tenten was trapped in their embrace. He clutched all the wires in his left hand, drawing back as he took in a deep breath, and breathed fire along the wires.

Gai's mini cloned dashed to her rescue, considerably faster than the rest of the gennin, slicing through the wires which fluttered harmlessly to the ground mere inches from her.

"Yes, exceptional teamwork." The Kazekage acquiesced. What he was seeing was more than he expected of a Jinchuuriki.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto observed the battlefield with a critical eye. Neji, Tenten and Lee were struggling. Team Seven had taken the upper hand in this battle right out of the gate, and they weren't going to relinquish their lead.

The ground had been caved in, they nearly set the Tenten on fire, Neji couldn't keep atop the sheer number of clones Naruto sent at him, and Sakura intercepted every attack of Lee's, forcing the taijutsu expert to retreat or kick the girl he loved into the opposite wall of the crater.

Team Gai was frustrated. And humiliated. They were getting the worst of a team that had only been put together four months ago, a team that included the year's worst student. Neji was clearly starting to get enraged by Team Seven's uninjured state.

And Naruto was going to capitalize on that.

He crouched on the branch of a toppled tree, waiting; as Neji continued to demolish his Shadow Clones, as Sasuke blocked and dodged Tenten's Twin Rising Dragon technique, his onyx eyes bleeding red; as Lee attempted to double team Sasuke only to be blocked by Sakura and immediately pull back, apologizing and promising to run seven hundred laps around Konoha on one hand if he ever hurt her.

Naruto waited, until Neji was sure that he had dispelled the last clone with a Juuken to the heart, until Tenten had hurled all her weapons at Sasuke, until Sakura got between Lee and her black haired teammate again.

"Now! Plan A!" He shouted.

It was instantaneous.

Sasuke performed a Kawarimi, replacing his body with Sakura's. Lee, expecting Sakura's pink hair to streak between him and his target, had halted his punch once more. In that split second of confusion, when Lee met his eyes with surprise, Sasuke cast a genjutsu.

The taijutsu expert would still believe he was fighting, but it would all be in his mind. In reality he would be attacking nothing but air. And seeing as Lee had no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu, the green clad boy was neutralized, because he wouldn't be released unless Sasuke himself ended the jutsu or he ran out of chakra to maintain it.

Tenten had drawn up all two hundred of her weapons of every shape and size by the invisible wires connected to them, intending to pulverize Sasuke by throwing them with her unerring accuracy all at once. Sakura may not have had an affinity for wind style jutsus, but that didn't mean she was incapable of utilizing them. She used one that Naruto had taught her in the future.

"Fuuton: Kamikaze!" Several tornadoes twisted above Sakura, catching the weapons mistress's second attack, cutting the translucent threads attached so she couldn't try a third time, and scattering them about the field.

Sasuke prevented the unknowing Lee from getting impaled while Neji used Kaiten, releasing chakra from all of his tenketsu points and spinning rapidly, to deflect the weapons.

Sakura pressed her advantage over the older girl, "Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!" A torrential volume of water spewed from her mouth, rising up and crashing down on Tenten. One water prison jutsu, held by a water clone, later, and the bun haired girl was neutralized.

Team Seven realigned in front of the male Hyuuga with Naruto in the middle.

"You know, Neji, that I failed the graduation exam three times, because there was one jutsu that was on it tripped me up every year."

Neji's white eyes widened as Naruto admitted that he failed the clone jutsu three years in a row. "So don't whine to me about fate. I know more about it than your beloved clan. And I know that it can be changed. If you don't like yours, fight for a better one."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi watched proudly as his team soundly separated and took down two-thirds of Gai's team, whose sensei was sulking in the seat next to him lamenting how his rival's students were as cool as he was.

"Maa, maa, Gai. I think that makes the score seventy-one to seventy."

Gai shot up, fire burning in his eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Kakashi. Neji may not be a taijutsu prodigy like Lee, but he is exceptional at the Hyuuga style taijutsu which has no defense."

But Gai was wrong. The Hyuuga's Kaiten may have been the perfect defense, but if the user ran out of chakra or could not spin, because the chakra itself was not enough to stop a physical attack, the user became vulnerable.

Faced with three opponents, it was inevitable that Neji would exhaust his chakra stores first. Hell, just against Naruto Neji would run out of chakra first.

Neji seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Kakashi seeing as he dropped his hands to his side, standing stiffly as Genma called an end to the match from above with Team Seven's victory.

The masked jounin beamed as his team was pronounced the winners, and if anyone was looking his way they would be able to see the smile even behind his mask. This was the team that he imagined when the Sandaime told him he had to take on a gennin team. A team that worked together like they were a single person. No other team came close to meeting the large expectations he placed on them, but Team Seven had risen to the challenge and forced him to pass them. They were a team reminiscent of Team Minato. Naruto would be Obito, Sasuke was like himself, and Sakura could be just like Rin.

'You must be so proud of your son, sensei.' Team Seven would become legendary. Kakashi would see to it. And he wouldn't let them turn out like his team.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A group of earth users repaired the ground that had been shattered under Sakura's fist. Team Gai was directed to the medical station to receive treatment as Genma called down the next two teams to fight. Ino practically dragged her teammates down to the waiting Sand Siblings.

It was agreed upon last night, depending on how the teams were paired up, that Shikamaru's team would be the one to lose no matter what team he faced. Gaara needed to make it to the final round for the fake Kazekage to launch the invasion, and Naruto needed to be in position to become Konoha's hero once again.

The only team they would have been allowed to fight seriously would have been Gai's team.

Even with the outcome pre-decided, Shikamaru knew this match was going to be troublesome. Temari was going to piss off Ino royally by toying with her because he had gone on one date with her in the future.

"I think we should forfeit."

"What? Shikamaru, stop being lazy. Don't you want to be a chuunin?"

"Ino!" He hissed, cutting off her rant. "I saw what that guy could do in the forest."

Ino's blue eyes slid to the red head he was pointing at. Gaara stared back impassively. "He utterly destroyed a team from Ame. There was nothing of them left."

Shikamaru mentally begged for Gaara's forgiveness for painting him out to be the monster he was in the past, but it was the only way to convince Ino that they could not fight. And it wasn't like he was lying about what the sand wielding boy was capable of, for he had once murdered Team Shigure in the original chuunin exams.

"I agree with Shikamaru, Ino"

Ino huffed. With both boys against her, she really didn't have a choice. "Fine. Proctor, we forfeit."

Genma blinked, as it was rather unusual to quit in the last round, but accepted their forfeit and named the team from Suna the winner.

Shikamaru whistled cheerfully to himself as he climbed the stairs back up to the participant's box. Even if it made Temari angry with him, and he knew it had because he knew his wife, he had successfully avoided a cat fight between the two most troublesome blondes in his life.

Second most troublesome. Naruto was definitely the first.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Team Kakashi, please come back down."

Naruto slapped the Nara upside the head for not fighting before vaulting over the railing. They hadn't said he couldn't fight, just that he couldn't win. Sakura and Sasuke landed seconds after him without an audible thud.

He extended his hand to Gaara. "May the best team win." He grinned brightly. The red head returned both.

Their match was interrupted before it even began. A man in a black cloak with red patterned clouds stood in the center of the arena.

"Well, isn't that thoughtful, yeah? Konoha's put both Jinchuuriki in the same place. This won't take long at all. Danna will be happy, yeah."

What the hell were Akatsuki doing there?

Naruto snapped his head sideways to look at Gaara, who looked as lost as he felt. Why was the Akatsuki already moving against the Jinchuuriki? They weren't supposed to start that for another three years. Did killing Orochimaru early warrant such a drastic change to their time scale?

He also didn't miss the concerned look Sasuke shot him. Let in on the orange loving blonde's secret a couple years early, Sasuke was now aware of the danger this criminal organization posed to his teammate.

But, despite Deidara's unexpected crashing of their exams, Naruto thought they could handle it, even as the sleeping agents in the crowed put everyone in the arena to sleep and the invasion began. They had beaten the Akatsuki once, and the invasion would fail with Gaara on the Leaf's side.

And then it all went to hell when Itachi Uchiha appeared.

"You!" Sasuke snarled. The seal on his neck flared red. "What are you doing here? I'm going to kill you."

"It has been a few years, foolish little brother. You do not have enough hate to kill me. You are not worth killing yet."

Naruto put a hand on Sasuke's shoulders as the boy tensed, Sharingan flaring. "Ignore him, Sasuke. He's baiting you. You know you're not ready to kill him." Not that he would let Sasuke kill his brother. Itachi was a hero, and Naruto hoped to welcome him back to the village once everything was over and done with and they saved the world.

"Naruto-kun, we would like you to come with us."

"Like hell I'd do that, believe it."

"Naruto won't be going anywhere with the likes of you, Itachi Uchiha." Kakashi and Gai joined them, stepping directly in front of the gennin. "Go, help the civilians. Anyone not wearing a Konoha hitai-ate is an enemy. Did you three know about this invasion?"

The second question was directed at the Sand Siblings, still standing silently behind Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. Kankuro was perspiring lightly while his two siblings looked as cool as cucumbers.

"Yes." Gaara said bluntly. Kankuro gaped at him. Why would he admit that to Sharingan no Kakashi? The jounin would murder them.

"And do you plan to aide your troops?"

"No," came Gaara's quick answer. "I do not agree with or condone Suna's attack. I understand if you do not trust us, but my siblings and I fully intend to fight for Konoha."

Kankuro tried and failed to look like his betrayal wasn't news to him. Kakashi noticed but chose not to comment. "Very well. Stick with my students. And no heroics from any of you." He said sharply. "Defend the villagers and evacuate them to the shelters."

There was a quick moment when four of the gennin looked at Naruto to answer for them, and with his nod of approval the two teams scaled the concrete walls to protect the people who had come to see the gennins fight. They would certainly get their money's worth.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto's clones were a life saver.

The blonde multiplied, two clones for every unknown chakra signature he detected, and sent his duplicates out with the order to eliminate. Shikamaru and his team raced over.

"Ino, how good are you at your Mind Transfer jutsu?" The blonde haired girl drew up affronted, what did the class clown know about clan jutsus, of course she was more than adept at possessing other shinobi subtly, and she did so to get the answers during the first exam, when Naruto continued. "Can you use it on the Kazekage?"

"The Kazekage?" She shrieked. "I can't possess the Kazekage! That would be asking for a war between the Yamanaka clan and Suna, you idiot!"

"That's not the Kazekage. I need to know his real identity."

Ino chewed her bottom lip as Naruto's serious eyes focused on her. How did he know that? Could she risk an international incident if he was wrong?

"Ino." Shikamaru said softly.

"Fine," she snapped. "But when Suna demands my head on a silver platter I'm sending yours in my place."

"They won't." Naruto smiled knowingly.

Ino's body had barely slumped, Shikamaru's arms were outstretched to catch her unconscious body, and her eyes snapped open. "There's nobody there."

"Did it not work? Do you need to be closer?"

"It worked perfectly. There's no mind at all!"

Sakura's green eyes darted around the stadium, scanning for Sasori who would most likely be hiding in his Hiruko puppet. If the distinctive red and black cloak wasn't easy enough to pick out, Sasori's shorter height from the hunched over puppet would definitely be noticeable.

And even then, there was no way Sakura would ever forget the first man she had a hand in killing.

"Sakura." The pinkette turned her attention to the future Rokudaime Hokage. "You're the only one of us to have fought puppets. Take Kankuro and go help the Third Hokage. You're the only one that will be able to beat Sasori."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Lord Kazekage! What is the meaning of this?" Sarutobi demanded. The Hokage's ANBU guard took positions around him.

"Hokage-sama! You must flee. Escape now."

The Kazekage's arms came up. Two small holes were visible on the palms of his hands. From them dozens of senbon were launched at a rapid speed. The ANBU squad protecting the Sandaime was killed with precise hits to vital areas.

Sarutobi could not believe what he was seeing. The Yondaime Kazekage was a sand manipulator, much like his youngest son, and possessed a kekkei genkai called Magnet Release, which allowed him to manipulate particles of gold dust.

"By the fires, you're a . . ."

"Puppet, Lord Hokage." Sakura said succinctly, smoothly rising from her crouched landing. She was positive that what she was about to do was not what Naruto wanted when he mandated that they go all out. In fact, as the case may be, went against every order that they not reveal themselves to be from the future.

"Haruno-san, Kankuro-san. What are you doing? This is not a fight for gennin. Go, now!" The old man gestured with his arm for the two of them to run. Kankuro, who was hovering off to the side not really knowing why he listened to the blonde haired brat and followed the pink haired one, probably because Gaara glared at him, muttered something under his breath about how true that was.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama," she apologized, "but I cannot let you fight him."

"Cannot?" He blustered. "Child, who do you think you are? You are a mere gennin. I am your Hokage. If you do not leave now I will have you stripped of your hitai-ate and tried for treason!"

Sakura's lips curled upwards. "You may be Hokage, sir, but you are not my Hokage."

Sarutobi was stunned by her answer. That didn't make any sense. He was so stunned he could not act to prevent her from activating a sealing barrier around her and the puppet of the Kazekage. There was no way her abnormally advanced abilities would go unnoticed after that.

"Kankuro, please take Hokage-sama to safety."

The make-up wearing shinobi raised his eyes to the heavens, complaining about the insanity that all Leaf shinobi shared. Praying that the Hokage would not react quickly enough, Kankuro trapped him inside Black Ant, he left the crazy pink haired girl with a parting, "my old man uses Magnet Release," and hurried to dump his prisoner somewhere out of the way before he lived up to his nickname "God of Shinobi" and kicked his ass.

"I hate to be kept waiting."

Sakura did not move as Sasori, hidden within Hiruko. The criminal was never far away from his puppets. No puppet master could be, not even one of his skill level.

"You cannot hope to beat me by yourself, little girl." The gruff tone of his puppet said.

She smirked. "I think you'll find I can." She surged forward, meeting the Fourth Kazekage as the puppet was directed forward, and shattered his face. Sakura then used the still moving wooden body as a spring board to launch herself onto an unsuspecting Sasori's back and cracked open the face shaped shell that hid the true Sasori.

A black blur shot out of the destroyed puppet, retreating to the far side of the barrier.

Sakura had intentionally made the barrier small so that he would not be able to use his Performance of Hundred Puppets that once brought down the Land of This. Admittedly, Sakura was not as impressed with the technique once she researched the country, which was a small country bordering the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers famous for its food contests.

All joking matters aside, Sakura did not feel suicidal and felt no need to fight one versus one hundred.

In hindsight, she should have shattered more than just the Fourth Kazekage's head.

Gold sand exploded from underneath, slamming her against the wall of her barrier. She heard at least two bones snap. Sakura doused it with water, weighing it down enough that she could slip out and attack the puppet, and due to its greater density, it was too slow to stop her from reaching the headless puppet. This time she annihilated the human puppet.

"Impressive," Sasori called softly. "Have you fought puppet masters previously?"

"Yes."

"I see. It's been a long time since I was forced to use myself, but I cannot keep the others waiting." Sasori pulled the cloak from himself, revealing that he had turned his entire body, except for his living core that had scorpion written on it.

Sakura pulled on her signature black fingerless gloves and cracked her knuckles. She may know Akasuna no Sasori's abilities, but she would be fighting he alone this time.

Across from her Sasori opened the compartment on his abdomen and balanced on the thick black wire that shot out of it.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Please do not interfere with my affairs. You will only get killed."

Kakashi studied the two S-class shinobi in front of him.

Itachi Uchiha, who had just spoken, was easily recognizable and his history was well known; the murderer of his entire clan. He had a meteoric rise through the ranks, claiming the title of ANBU captain as a boy of thirteen, thanks to his proficiency with his Sharingan. Kakashi knew his skill with the Uchiha's kekkei genkai would never compare to one born with it. And Itachi's Sharingan was on a whole other level. The Copy-nin would never have the mastery over the Uchiha's doujutsu that Itachi had or Sasuke would come to have.

The second shinobi was unknown to him. Long blond hair which he wore drawn into a half ponytail with the rest hanging down freely. Bangs covered his left eye and he wore a slashed Iwa forehead protector.

"I'm going to prove to Sasori-danna that art is fleeting." The blonde reached into a large pouch on his left leg that held his clay.

"Deidara, we do not have time to engage in frivolous battles. Our mission is to retrieve the Jinchuurikis of the One-Tail and Nine-Tails."

Kakashi's normal eye widened in alarm. He would not let them have Naruto.

His hands blurred through a stream of hand seals. Chakra condensed in his hand, taking the form of a ball of blue lightning and chirping. He raised the headband concealing his Sharingan.

"You take Deidara," he said to Gai. "I've got the Uchiha."

"Yosh. Let us defeat these guys quickly and aide Lord Hokage. This is my next challenge, my eternal rival, with which I will tie up the score. If I do not beat my opponent before you, Kakashi, I will be the bait for your nin-hounds next tracking simulation."

"Chidori!" Kakashi streaked towards Itachi. The Uchiha dodged, right into a kick from a clone.

Itachi disappeared from sight and Kakashi felt a kunai prod the back of his flak jacket. Itachi thrust the kunai into the Copy-nin's back, and he poofed out of existence. He quickly jumped when the jounin tried to pull him underground by means of his head hunter jutsu.

For the longest minutes of his life, Kakashi stood toe to toe with the infamous Itachi Uchiha. He may not have Uchiha blood running through his veins, but he could wield the Sharingan just as well. The battle was fast paced, who held the upper hand was always switching.

Itachi would use the Grand Fireball jutsu every Uchiha mastered as a child and Kakashi would counter with a vortex of water. Kakashi would summon another Chidori and Itachi wouldn't be in the place he was aiming for.

Ultimately, they were evenly matched. Until he closed his eyes. "Do you know why the Uchiha clan is the most powerful and feared clan of all? I will show you the true powers of the bloodline of Sharingan masters. Tsukiyomi."

Kakashi was too slow to close his eyes. His world turned black.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Sakura handled Sasori and his second Kazekage puppet, Naruto directed Ino and Chouji to helping some of his clones get civilians to safety. Ino had tried to protest, saying she could fight, but he told her straight away she was a liability due to her clan's jutsu and that he could not afford to waste someone on watching over her mindless body.

He and the others separated to quickly deal with the large number of Sound and Suna invaders. His plan had been progressing smoothly. Naruto mostly employed the use of various battle seals he had designed himself.

Seals were a brilliant shinobi invention. Ingenious, really.

Most thought nothing of them. They allowed for simple things, like easy and more storage, paper bombs, starting campfires, and summoning , to complex things like sealing Tailed Beasts, manipulating time and space, sustaining life, and barriers.

Unfortunately they also allowed for monstrosities like Orochimaru's Cursed Seals. Which, on their own, were an amazing mix of fuuinjutsu and senjutsu and a commendable feat, but in the hands of someone as twisted as the Snake Sannin were a menace. Or the twice damned Edo Tensei.

Most shinobi didn't use seals beyond storage, premade explosive tags, and the occasional summoning jutsu. But Naruto could fight with them exclusively if he wished to. Fuuinjutsu was impossible to defend against and was the most unappreciated and unused weapon of the shinobi world.

Not even his father fought with seals. Minato used them in battle, seals were the foundation of his Flying Thunder God technique, the pinnacle of fuuinjutsu twelve years ago, that had earned him the name of Konoha's Yellow Flash.

But Minato only used seals to travel at the speed of light. Naruto could use them to incapacitate an enemy two hundred and sixteen different ways and kill them another thirty-two ways.

Certainly they could be dangerous to work with if you didn't know what you were doing. Fuuinjutsu was not for the faint hearted. The theory of fuuinjutsu was abstract, complex, and difficult to fully comprehend. The smallest mistake in writing a seal could have severe consequences. That was why it was important to write with a steady hand, carefully balancing lines, numbers, and symbols to create a functional seal. A fuuinjutsu master understood the limitless possibilities and miracles that seals were capable of performing, and could do anything their imagination could dream up.

Any seal that was written correctly would activate without fail when chakra was added.

Naruto was a fuuinjutsu master. One the likes that the world had never seen. That's how he knew some second rate idiot had written the seal overlaying Orochimaru's Cursed Seal.

Naruto cursed viciously, dropping to his knees at his teammate's side, utterly helpless when the containment seal broke and Sasuke automatically entered the first level. The seal absorbed all his own chakra, replacing it with Orochimaru's senjutsu chakra. The black flame like markings spread from his neck, and he cried out as pain and absolute power consumed him.


	9. Chapter 8

Malicious purple chakra surrounded Sasuke, spiraling around the boy in a manner much like the orange cloak of the Kyuubi's chakra when Naruto was first learning to use it. No distinct shape, just pure chakra twisting and churning.

The blonde glared at the black flame like markings that crawled under Sasuke's shirt. How he wished he could remove the Cursed Seal altogether. But fuuinjutsu wasn't that advanced yet, or at least Konoha's knowledge of it wasn't. Not to mention that the Cursed Seal couldn't just be removed without explanation. There would be a dozen people, the Third Hokage, Kakashi, Anko, Ibiki, the current expers of fuuinjutsu, most prominent, that wouldn't let Naruto get away with saying he didn't know what happened.

If he couldn't provide a reasonable excuse Sasuke might be dragged off for testing if they believed his body could fight off seals or something ridiculous like that.

"Come on, Sasuke," he muttered as the seal showed no sign of receding. "Fight it off. You don't need that power. You don't want to use someone else's power to kill your brother. If you rely on the seal it will become a crutch, and then you'll never be strong enough."

And that was the crux of the matter. Even if Naruto could spin a believable tale, he couldn't take the choice away from Sasuke. It needed to be his choice to accept or deny the power he had been given.

If he still wanted to use it, and Naruto took it away, Sasuke would hate him.

It would be the beginning of another cycle of hatred that Naruto had sworn to end. And when Sasuke hated something, he hated it with his whole being. Like Itachi, Sasuke would not rest until he was dead.

And he wouldn't let Sasuke go gallivanting off after Kabuto for power, like a duckling following its mother. He was supposed to prevent him from leaving the village, and Naruto couldn't do that if Sasuke wanted to kill him.

* * *

The Sandaime had been shocked to his core. His village was being invaded. A war could be looming on the horizon.

He had been about to remove the official full length kimono in Konoha's red, the white haori and the pointed hat when Kakashi's female student had jumped in front of him and bold as brass ordered the Kazekage's oldest son to take him away.

Sarutobi had never heard of such insubordination, not even from Kakashi who regarded teammates above all else. Never would the silver haired man have defied his Hokage.

Before he could order the girl, Sakura he thought her name was, to stand down, he was scooped up and wooden slats slid into place with a thunk in front of him. The inside of the puppet was bare and dark, and all Sarutobi could do was stare at the grooves.

He had been caught off guard by a pair of gennin.

Unbelievably, it had taken him a couple minutes to remember that he was the Hokage of the Leaf Village and that a puppet wielded by gennin could not hold him. Hiruzen exhaled a stream of fire, reducing his wooden prison to ashes, and leapt nimbly from its smoldering confines.

Kankuro fell to his knees, brushing all the ashes into a pile. "Black Ant." He cried.

"What in Hashirama's name is going on here?" The Third Hokage demanded.

"Who's name, sir?" The brunette was still frantically sweeping up the ashes like his puppet would magically rebuild itself if he could keep it together.

The Hokage stared at him dumbfounded. He could not believe that the boy did not recognize the name Hashirama. "Never mind. What the blazes do you think you're doing?"

Kankuro's terrified eyes finally met the Hokage's harsh ones. "I'm trying to stay alive. Gaara would have killed me if I hadn't done what the pink haired brat wanted."

Sarutobi kneaded his temple. Clearly he wasn't going to get any answers from Kankuro. The boy had no more clue than he did about why his gennin was ordering him about.

He left the boy to mourn over his incinerated puppet. He was the Hokage. He had a village to defend. The Will of Fire would not be extinguished so easily.

* * *

Sakura had been in battles before. She had lived through this invasion once, going up against a murderous unhinged Jinchuuriki. Along with Chiyo she had once taken down the very man that stood before her.

But she had never participated in such a confusing fight.

Sasori perched on his black coil, the spinning blades that gave him flight whirring, and she knew he was going to come at her with a katana as he would have in the future.

And then he disappeared.

She could still hear the sounds of battle around her, but Sasori was gone. Escaped from her barrier.

Sakura couldn't recount what happened after that. The others had taken care of the enemy shinobi in the stands. Naruto was cradling Sasuke and for a second she had a horrible flashback to the day they used the Five Element Seal, when all hope was gone and the future never looked bleaker and the last of her team was dying and she could do nothing about it.

The rest of the Akatsuki had vanished as well, leaving Gai to frantically race her comatose sensei to the hospital. She and Naruto had followed, carrying their dark haired teammate between them.

* * *

Unfortunately, none of the medics on staff at the hospital could do anything about Sasuke's broken containment seal. So the two members of Team Seven were forced to watch as the last one waged an internal war.

Then a team of ANBU came and took Sakura away.

Naruto protested, loudly and fervently, and was soundly ignored the by masked shinobi. Sakura let herself be led from the room, telling Naruto that he couldn't leave Sasuke alone.

The blonde sat hunched over in the chair at Sasuke's bedside, anxious. How had it come to this? The Hokage was saved. Akatsuki attacked early. Two of his teammates were in the hospital, both unlikely to wake for a few days. And Sakura was arrested.

Team Seven was falling apart in front of him.

* * *

"I don't want this power." Naruto's head shot up at Sasuke's rasp, so fast that it cracked. "I will kill that man on my own."

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist. The dark haired boy did not pull away. "Together." He promised. "We'll help you. You don't have to do it alone."

Sasuke studied him intensively, searching Naruto's cerulean eyes, seeing nothing but determination, strength, and support. He nodded. Naruto and Sakura could help him achieve his revenge.

Speaking of his other teammate, Sasuke's onyx orbs scanned his too white hospital room. "Dobe, where is Sakura?"

Naruto's hand on his arm tensed.

A feeling Sasuke couldn't describe welled up inside him. Panic? Concern? Worry? Disbelief? Had she been injured? Or. . . killed?

His heart twanged, uncomfortable with the idea that Sakura could be dead. He had seen her strength. It just wasn't possible that she could be dead.

The blonde's tongue ran across his lips. "She's. . . She'll be okay."

Sasuke had been about to demand more. He needed to know exactly what happened to his teammate. "I'll make sure of it. We will. Team Seven will never abandon a comrade."

And strangely enough, he believed Naruto. The fierceness which he said it with made Sasuke believe they could do anything. Team Seven would be unstoppable.

* * *

Team Seven stood in the Hokage's office, each member still a little twitchy and more than a little nervous.

Sasuke looked like he still belonged in the hospital. His skin was as pale as Sai's and occasionally his hand jumped to the mark on his neck. Naruto had thrown himself at her the instant she was escorted across the threshold; firing off rapid questions of where she had been and if she was okay. Sakura had been fine. There had been no torture like she was expecting. The ANBU locked her in a dark room underground and guarded her around the clock. Kakashi was still recovering from Itachi's Tsukuyomi, but was standing behind them supporting himself with a wooden crutch. Their sensei had thrown Naruto a questioning look as he worried over his pink haired teammate wondering what he had missed while trapped in the illusionary realm.

The Hokage was leveling them with a piercing stare. Exhaustion lined his face. The old man looked like he hadn't slept a wink in the three days since the invasion. She was almost positive that there was a slight bald patch above his right ear.

But Sakura was petrified. The last time she had been before the Sandaime she had ordered Kankuro to stuff him into one of his puppets. She had told him to his face that she followed someone else as Hokage. Her hands clenched so tightly that her fingernails were digging white half circles into her palms.

She didn't regret saving the old man's life. Sakura would never regret saving a life. She was a healer. She was supposed to keep people alive.

But the rosette was absolutely terrified that the Third Hokage would follow through with his threat to revoke her ninja license and order her to be executed or demand she leave the village and never return. Sakura would actually prefer death over the other two options. She could not save the world by baking bread. And to have gotten Konoha back, only to be forbidden to ever step foot inside its gates again, it would crush Sakura.

"Haruno Sakura," the Third Hokage began. "You have gone against the Hokage's direct orders, consorted with a Suna-nin in kidnapping the Hokage," here Kakashi turned a startled eye on her, "endangered yourself and anyone who happened to be nearby. You had cut off people of higher rank than you and if it had gone another way you would have killed many civilians."

The Hokage's words felt like many stabs through the heart to Sakura. She gulped, knowing that her fate was coming next and that she had to accept it with dignity.

"The law is clear in these matters. Your crimes warrant an immediate removal from the rosters. You will never be a Konoha shinobi."

Sakura couldn't stop one tear from leaking from the corner of her eye.

"What?! You can't be serious, Jiji!"

"Naruto."

The blonde bit back the next words he had been going to say, not because the Hokage was reprimanding him and telling him to be silent, but because Sakura had called his name softly.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto's mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to find the words to say.

The pinkette threw her arms around him. "It's okay, Naruto."

"No it's not." Sasuke stepped up next to them.

Sakura's eyes softened as she glanced at her once crush. "Sasuke."

"It's not alright." He repeated angrily. "You're a part of Team Seven. It won't be the same without you." He couldn't lose them now. Sakura couldn't be taken away from them. His team filled a dark void in his heart. Naruto, Sakura, and even Kakashi to an extent, were more than just people he had to put up with every day on his quest to grow stronger. Sasuke couldn't lose one of them before he had a chance to connect and develop bonds and grow stronger with them.

Sakura let her tears flow freely. She was seeing it first hand and she was having trouble accepting the changes in Sasuke. It was almost unbelievable that she and Naruto had managed to change his one track mind in the little time they had been back in the past.

"People who break the rules are trash but people who leave a comrade behind are worse than trash. If you can't be a ninja, then you can be a civilian. And we'll resign too," Naruto said fiercely.

"Right, Sasuke?" Said boy was already nodding in agreement. "You're our teammate. You jump, we jump. We're not leaving you behind."

Sakura sobbed, pulling Sasuke into a three way hug.

If they looked behind them, they would have seen Team Seven's sensei tearing up. Despite the crushing failure he was facing for not being able to keep his team together, Kakashi couldn't be prouder of his students. Both were willing to sacrifice their dreams to keep Sakura with them.

She brushed away her tears. "I can't let you do that. You're going to be Hokage, Naruto. And Sasuke has to get his revenge. So don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine. Grow stronger. Don't lose sight of your dreams. And keep Sasuke out of trouble."

Sasuke scoffed lightly. It was more like he would need to keep the dobe in line. Sakura's green eyes locked onto Naruto. He knew that she meant for him to continue with the plan and prevent Sasuke from going rogue.

The Third Hokage coughed, ruining Team Seven's sentimental goodbye and earning the glares of its two male members. "I wasn't finished."

Sakura closed her eyes. She wasn't just be stripped of her hitai-ate. Banishment? Execution? She crushed Naruto's and Sasuke's hands. Neither boy complained even though Sakura was certain she had broken a few bones.

Naruto was wracked with guilt. He felt the broken hand was the least he deserved. This was all his fault. He was the one that ordered Sakura to fight Sasori. He had forbidden them from holding back. Sakura's death was going to be on his hands. He briefly wondered if Shikamaru would feel as guilty for his part, since he was the one to suggest they do everything over.

He would never be able to wash the blood away.

"But you have protected our village and its people. You protected the Hokage from an S-class missing-nin and made sure he was out of harm's way. You have fought with a bravery and determination, showing that you were willing to die for your village. The Will of Fire burns brightly in you."

Naruto blinked twice. Did he really hear what he thought? Praise for Sakura's actions and not condemnation? There was a smile on the Sandaime's face.

Sakura sagged between them, only her grip on his and Sasuke's hands was keeping her upright.

Sarutobi still wasn't done. "And that is why I am making you a chunnin. You as well, Sasuke and Naruto. You're actions during the invasion have displayed the maturity, skills, and behavior I expect from a chuunin."

Now all of Team Seven was smiling and laughing, albeit with a touch of hysteria. Uncharacteristically, Sasuke initiated a group hug. The smile on his face looked out of place and normal at the same time.

"Congratulations, new chuunin. I trust there will not be another incident like this one." His heavy gaze fell upon Sakura.

"I won't disobey you again, Hokage-sama." She promised.

And she wasn't lying. Sarutobi wouldn't be the Hokage much longer. And Tsunade was a different matter entirely.

* * *

Team Seven left the Hokage's office much happier than they entered it. With one look Naruto and Sakura agreed not to disclose the day's events with the other time travelers. It was a personal matter for Team Seven.

"Ne, Sakura-chan," Naruto asked as the three wandered aimlessly away from the tower. "What would you have done if the old man really took your forehead protector?"

Sasuke turned towards her slightly, as she was walking in the middle.

In answer, she grinned brightly. "I would have gone to Suna. He never said I couldn't join another village. Gaara would have taken me in."

* * *

The Third Hokage watched the three from his window overlooking the village.

Team Seven continued to surprise him.

The three newly made chuunin could not be more different. Naruto was bright, loud, and reckless. Sasuke was a black spot, a dark pit with a dark past. Sakura was cheery, naïve, from a civilian family. But they went together like green on leaves.

He had not expected such strong reactions to his display. Off the top of his head, he could only name one other shinobi that would have dropped his career like it was a burning coal and that was Kakashi Hatake.

Sarutobi's eyes followed the girl's pink hair, book ended by the Uchiha's black and Naruto's blonde. He had not forgotten her words in the Kages' box. The meteoric rise in abilities of both her and Naruto did not escape his really was getting much too old for this job. All the political jockeying and secret conspiracies. Now he was at the point of suspecting gennin of treason and dabbling with forbidden jutsus.

He would have to keep a close eye on them. "Tenzou."

A cat ANBU with green and red markings promptly knelt before him. "I need you to monitor Team Kakashi. Particularly Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The ANBU intoned.


	10. Chapter 9

Sakura glared at Yamato.

She should have known it wouldn't be as simple as a little intimidation in a prison cell and a warning. Of course the Hokage wouldn't let her off that easy. If she was the Hokage she wouldn't let a gennin get away with what she did. Hell, even Naruto didn't.

As her Hokage had pointed out yesterday night, there were other options she could have taken, the easiest of which would have been to knock the old man out before confronting Sasori. Instead she nearly exposed their secret.

Yamato explained that Kakashi's skill set had been needed on a mission of undetermined length and that he would be temporarily stepping in as team leader.

To Sakura, it was an excuse to get their sensei out of the way so the Third could put his watch dog in the man's place. And while she had nothing against Yamato, except maybe that he was too strict (and anyone would be in comparison to Kakashi Hatake, but the Mokuton user took it to the extreme), his presence was a threat. She hadn't forgotten all the times he or a wood clone phased out of a tree near her and just about gave her a heart attack.

The pinkette had no doubt that Yamato would be monitoring her conversations and movements closely, and Naruto's by association.

Sakura mentally sighed. So long as Yamato was part of Team Seven, she would have to miss the nightly planning sessions. She could not risk him reporting conversations out of context back to the Sandaime.

On the bright side, she would have a lot more time to train.

* * *

Sasuke's feelings surprised him.

Judging by the way Sakura's viridian eyes were trying to bore holes in Yamato's back, he wasn't the only one unhappy by the man's sudden placement. He thought he could even see the dobe narrowing his eyes.

But the intensity of his own emotions caught him off guard. Yamato felt wrong, issuing precise orders, showing up to practice on time, not hiding behind an orange book. The man didn't belong on Team Seven.

The disastrous events of the Chuunin exams had brought Team Seven closer together.

Admittedly, it didn't seem like much, because at that point they were more three completely opposite personalities thrown together as a dysfunctional team, and Sasuke had viewed his two teammates as extra baggage he had to carry.

But Team Seven was more than that. Ever since their mission to Wave Naruto and Sakura had changed. Sasuke disregarded the inconsistencies he had observed until the duo had started holding their own against him. Both of them had mellowed out and were much easier to deal with.

Finishing missions was no longer a hassle. He could give his all in training, and had to if he wanted a chance to win. He didn't view them as annoyances anymore.

Now, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were his teammates. He didn't want to lose them. Unexpectedly, they had wormed their way into his heart, reviving emotions he had long thought repressed. Care. Worry. Respect. Concern. Friendship. Admiration. Joy. Fear. Happiness. Belonging. Team Seven's bonds were more encompassing than a mesh of feelings, and he could see them continuing to strengthen if they came to depend on the others saving the others' asses on the field.

Losing them would be like losing his family again. And Sasuke refused to let that happen a second time.

Especially since that man was targeting Naruto. Sasuke didn't know the reason for it, and right now, he really didn't need to. All that mattered was keeping Itachi from his goal, from getting Naruto.

His clan had waited five years to be avenged. It would wait until Naruto was safe.

Then he, Naruto and Sakura would do it together.

* * *

One of the habits Naruto couldn't get rid of was going from sleep to instant alertness. It came from years of being at war, never knowing when the next attack was coming or where it was coming from. He no longer had the luxury of sleeping like a log. The slightest triggering of his senses, whether it be hearing something out of place or an unknown chakra signature or out of place negative emotions caused Naruto to jolt out of his rest.

So, three weeks later when the communication scroll ignited his pillow, the blonde was across the room before the pillow caught fire.

It took him less than a second to take in the situation. The scroll was meant to be inconspicuous, flaring slightly with heat to inform him that Gaara had sent a message. Depending on the severity and how urgent it was that he open the scroll and read it right away, the amount of heat increased.

For his friend to be panicked enough that the scroll lit his bed on fire, Naruto didn't even want to imagine what had happened.

So much was already going wrong and he was certain that their original timeline wouldn't come to be this time.

Naruto ignored how the skin of his hands blistered, unrolling the scroll. The Kyuubi would see them healed fully in an hour or two.

Upon reading the message, he bolted for Shikamaru's house.

There were many things disturbing about it, aside from its horrible contents. It was short and to the point like all of Gaara's communications were, but the red head was never so blunt. He preferred to use as little words as necessary to convey his point, but he was never rude or curt in his letters.

But Naruto understood his panic.

_Temari's been kidnapped._

Naruto thought this was possibly the worst case scenario. Not just that one of their own was taken captive, but that it was Temari. At this point she couldn't claim any relation to the Kazekage to keep her alive. She didn't have a Bijuu to protect or Sakura's Inner. And as smart as the blonde kunoichi might be, not once had she ever outsmarted Shikamaru.

* * *

Murphy's Law was Team Seven's worst enemy. Hands down. It loved to mess with them. Unconditionally. It was forever screwing with them royally.

It didn't matter that they were more experienced, smarter, and knew exactly what was going to happen when as a result of what.

It changed things up and made the future unpredictable, as it was supposed to be.

Shikamaru had left the village last night. Naruto and Sakura would have gone with him, but they had to report to the Hokage to receive a mission in the morning. And after the weeks of living two separate lives, one the Sandaime and Yamato expected to see and their reality, not answering the summons would send up a red flag.

The future Rokudaime had prayed for something quick. His patience was at its tether and Temari's life was potentially at stake. Even Sasuke could pick up on his tension.

But they were being sent on a C-rank mission to guard the actress Yukie Fujikaze. Naruto vaguely remembered that mission. Their guarding mission was bogus, a cover up to force the woman, in actuality Koyuki Kazahana, princess of the Land of Snow, to return to Yuki no Kuni for a sequel that snowballed into fighting for what would become the Land of Spring's freedom.

He knew his team played an important part in the liberation of the country, but forcing a bratty princess turned even more spoiled actress to fight her own war wasn't Naruto's priority. It wasn't even on the list.

The mission was in the complete opposite direction of Suna, which is where he and Sakura needed to be. Shinobi rule number four said "A shinobi must always put the mission first," but that was not his way, it was not Team Seven's way.

Naruto could not go off overthrowing dictators when one of his precious people was in danger.

So when the whiskered boy packed his bags, it did not include layers of heavy clothing to keep him warm.

The start of the mission went down like he remembered, Team Seven chasing the stubborn actress through the streets mistakenly protecting her from the men who hired them. The ruckus and the dozens of clones Naruto created made the perfect diversion, and the real Naruto and Sakura slipped out of the village.

"How long will your clones last?" Sakura asked as they flew through the trees.

"I don't know," he answered. "They're meant to be distractions, diversions, safe guards, overwhelming numbers, cover. They're not really meant to last more than a few hours."

Jade eyes looked at him from the corner of her eye. Sakura grimaced. "So they'll know we've abandon the mission and left the village illegally. Who would have thought that we'd be the ones labeled traitors?"

Naruto shook his head. "I don't think so. I ordered all but two to disappear like they normally would. So long as they don't take any hits, they should last as long as they have chakra."

"That's good, I suppose." She breathed a sigh of relief. "And what about Sasuke? Was it really a good idea to leave him behind? His seal's still so new; he doesn't have any control over it."

"There's nothing we can do about that." Naruto said solemnly. "We can't focus on saving Sasuke if we don't save Temari. You and I can't fight the war on two fronts. Gaara, Temari, and Shikamaru didn't come back for Sasuke." He headed her off when she looked like she was going to protest.

"You know it's true. They won't stop us and will help if we ask with good reason, but those three won't go out of their way for him. To them, Sasuke's the embodiment of the Fourth Great Shinobi War. They came back to prevent the worst war in shinobi history."

Sakura sighed, knowing Naruto to be telling the truth. Shikamaru and Gaara especially loathed Sasuke, and were wary of his turning over a new leaf. They didn't think it was possible for the avenger. Shikamaru, because he had destroyed their village and killed Chouji with it, and Gaara because he believed Naruto and herself couldn't think clearly when it came to their raven haired teammate. He had told them many times that the bond they refused to give up on was only causing them more pain with each sequential nonsuccess to dissuade him from his dark path.

The two silently decided on not talking further. It would do them no good to harp on about on a topic they had beaten to death. They concentrated on their chakra, pushing it to their legs so they could run faster and propel themselves further each time they pushed off.

* * *

Temari groaned when she woke, on hand already moving to cradle her skull that felt like it had been split open with a meat cleaver.

"Welcome to the world of the living brat. What's your name and what did you do to end up here?"

"Tsunade!" The wind user jackknifed up, regretting it when her head exploded with pain. The other woman came to kneel at her side, gently but forcefully pushing her until she lay down on the stone floor again.

"Do I owe you money?"

"Er . .wha. . no."

"Good. I don't recognize you, but you can never be too sure." Tsunade said. "Now, don't move. You've suffered a fractured skull, cerebral contusions, and acute subdural hematoma."

Temari blinked at the medical jargon. She had no clue what any of that meant aside from the fractured skull, but she gathered they were very serious, judging by the serious look the older blonde was given her, and that she shouldn't even be awake right now.

"They gave me enough access to my chakra that I could reduce the swelling and heal the bruises and bleeding. However, the plates of your skull are only very loosely knitted together and another blow to the head might be your last."

"Who are they? And where are we?"

Tsunade sighed. "I don't know. They're always wearing masks when they come in. They haven't said what they want us for. And I can't tell where we are."

Temari was irritated. "Can you tell me how long you've been here? And why you haven't escaped yet? I didn't know there was a prison in the Five Great Elemental Nations that could hold one of the Legendary Sannin," she sneered.

Tsunade's amber eyes pinned her with a scathing look. "I've been here over two weeks. I've lost count, can't keep track of the days and nights in a windowless cell."

Temari took the hint to examine the room. It was made entirely of stone, solid stone without any grouting they could scrape out. There was one metal door, which had a cat flap she assumed was for pushing food through and a little sliding partition so their kidnappers could look into the cell.

The Sannin continued. "It's not the prison itself, but the chakra draining bracelets." She pulled up the hem of her dark blue pants to reveal a thing metal ring around her ankle. "It drains chakra as it regenerates. They only removed it once so I could heal you."

Unexpectedly, the heavy metal door swung inward. A lone figure entered their shared cell, the weak light of the only light bulb reflecting off his round spectacles.

 


	11. Chapter 10

"How the hell did a fourth rate shinobi like four eyes manage to capture a Sannin?" Temari asked stunned, ignoring the dark scowl that formed on Kabuto's face.

Logically, the blonde knew she should be demanding to know what his intentions were in capturing her, whether for ransom, blackmail, political, or Kami forbid he was on to them. But her mind struggled to accept that a woman as strong as Tsunade was overpowered by the scrawny sycophant.

"Would you believe me if I said I was drunk off my ass?" To her credit, the older woman didn't appear embarrassed, as she would have been if she really had been captured because she was inebriated.

But the wind user knew she was lying. "Bullshit." She said bluntly. "Even if for one second I thought you were drunk when you faced him, which is actually extremely likely if you think about, you're the most renowned medic-nin in the world and one of the Sannin. So even if you weren't capable of mopping the floor with while drunk, you could have metabolized all the alcohol in your body in three seconds."

Both medical shinobi stared at her, Tsunade surprised by her knowledge and Kabuto angry that his prisoners were completely ignoring him.

"If you don't stop speaking I'm going to kill the other woman." He hissed.

Temari looked to Tsunade and received a nod as conformation. If she didn't think it would incite the gray haired bastard into following through on his threat, she would have groaned. Taking Shizune would have been much easier than fighting the Sannin one on one. Tsunade's first apprentice was more of a true medic-nin, lacking the combat abilities of her mentor and Sakura.

And as much as Tsunade proclaimed that Konoha was cursed and full of bad memories and that she hated it, the village's Will of Fire burned brightly in her. She would have never abandoned Shizune to whatever fate Kabuto had planned should she not comply with his demands.

It was then that Temari came to admire Naruto and Sakura's determination. She had always thought the pair of them to be just stubborn to the point of stupidity, that all their chasing after Sasuke would be fruitless. But she had seen the change in the arrogant boy during the exams. Naruto had the ability to change people just by speaking to them. He had convinced Tsunade to become the Godaime Hokage in their original timeline.

Seeing Tsunade hold her tongue to protect her apprentice, Temari thought that such determination must run in the blood of every shinobi in Konoha. It erased all doubts in her mind that Naruto would fail this time around too.

She only hoped that her friends found her soon as Kabuto dragged her out of the cell. She may have believed herself to be as tough as nails, but the right torture would break anyone.

* * *

Naruto continuously shot concerned glances as his red headed friend as they raced to Temari's last known location.

He could clearly see that Gaara was far beyond tensed. His brow furrowed with worry. He pushed off each tree branch a little harder than the last one as if it would make him move faster.

Temari was the one person had hadn't needed to worry about. It was him that had technically died first, and would have remained that way if not for Chiyo's sacrifice. Gaara had returned to Suna to the news that Kanuro had been fatally poisoned but one of Konoha's shinobi that had come to their aid had saved him. It was his brother he had lost in the war.

Temari had been with him every step of the way the last few months, and if he lost her now it would be like being alone again. Even if he still had Kankuro, it was his sister that came from the future with him, who wasn't afraid to talk to him. At this point he could only talk freely and be himself with Temari and himself, Sakura, and Shikamaru, who were in another village.

Speaking off, Shikamaru was probably the only one of the four of them unworried. Not that they didn't believe Temari couldn't handle herself, but no one walked away from the experience of being captured like it hadn't happened.

Instead the Nara heir was enraged. He could count on both hands the things that he cared for. His team. The so dubbed Konoha twelve. His family. His village. Temari was at the top of the list. And if you thought a Nara was scary when he plotting solid plans of actions for missions, you should see one when something they held dear was threatened.

Shikamaru had been brutal with Hidan after the zombie man had killed his sensei. He was worse when Temari was involved. There had been an incident before the world broke out into war and all the villages were wiped from the map when an idiotic chuunin dared to grope his girlfriend.

The boy, Nameraka Tōka, had swaggered up to Temari while Shikamaru was paying for her favorite snack, sweet chestnuts, from a street vendor, and brazenly pinched her bum and asked if a feisty girl like her wanted to rut with him that night.

Temari had been about to slam her lead tipped fan into his head, not caring that he was a civilian given the situation when Shikamaru intervened.

His shadow snaked along the ground, weaving between the ovals beneath people's feet from the high noon sun, and latched onto Tōka's. The tall muscular dark haired boy was forced to step away from Temari.

Shikamaru raised his right arm, throwing a kunai at the center of the boy's chest, and moved so that Nameraka would mimic him and catch the projectile. Then the Nara had him place the kunai against his own throat.

The boy was shaking in his leather soled boots by this point. And Shikamaru took it one step farther by drawing his own hand across his neck, causing Tōka make a thin slice across his.

The brunette shit his pants when Shikamaru released his hold of his shadow and took a menacing step forward. He ran before Shikamaru could threaten him, calling back over his shoulder how the Kazekage would hear about this.

Clearly the idiot had not known who he was molesting.

Temari had joked that Ibiki would have been salivating at the idea of her boyfriend joining his division. Shikamaru had returned that that little trick didn't work as well on other shinobi as it did on arrogant civilians and that it would be too troublesome to ask the same questions over and over again every day of his life.

Obviously the whole incident went no further. There was no way Gaara was going to rule in favor of the boy stupid enough to make a move on his already involved sister. But the people of Suna learned a healthy amount of respect and fear for the clan that could manipulate shadows. He took great pleasure in imagining his tactical genius strong arming a civilian that had a hundred pounds and half a foot on him with physical force and not just his brains.

Between the Gaara and Shikamaru, Naruto didn't think there would be anything left of whoever dared to take Temari away from them.

"How are we going to find her?"

Shikamaru voiced the question they were all thinking. Not one of the four off them were trackers. Naruto and Sakura knew the basics and could pick up obvious trails and signs. But obvious was the key word. Anyone who managed to kidnap their fifth would be no slouch.

"What about your tracking seal?"

Sakura, who made the suggestion, slammed into Shikamaru's back when the young man stopped moving. He pushed the pinkette away from him, and it was only Gaara's sand that stopped her from falling from the canopy of the trees, and threw himself at Naruto, roughly shaking the blonde's shoulders.

"Can you do it?"

Naruto stammered. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Shikamaru snarled. "It's your seal!"

Naruto glared at his shinobi, and he instinctively hunched in on himself at Naruto's anger. "Yes, it's my seal. And as I already told you it's designed to let me to know where you are at all times and for you to find me. However, it's not a perfect seal. I don't know if it still functions because it was only meant to be used in the Forest of Death."

Significantly chastised, Shikamaru quietly asked if the blonde could possibly try.

Naruto clapped him on the shoulder, letting him know that he understood Shikamaru was frantic, worried, and panicking and that he wasn't being rude on purpose. Naruto had been just like he was when Gaara was taken by the Akatsuki.

The future Hokage channeled chakra to the seal. Theoretically, the seal should still be usable because he hadn't unwritten it.

All four of them held their breaths, staring intently at the palm of his hand, and cried out when the little human took shape and pointed to a direction northwest of them.

"That's Ishigakure."Gaara commented.

"It makes sense. They wouldn't have had the time to move her far, and Ishigakure is right on Suna's border."

Shikamaru's and Gaara's spirits were raised, now that they could accurately find their wife and sister respectively, and were urging the party to keep moving.

* * *

Naturally, the moment they caught a break is when something went drastically wrong.

Sakura touched Naruto's arm, concerned since he had not moved out with them. The other two were already tearing through the tree tops in the direction of the Village Hidden in Stones, but Naruto was standing frozen.

She could only tell that something was wrong by the tightening in the corner of his cerulean eyes. "Naruto?"

"Sasuke knows," he whispered.

The petal haired female felt like the ground had dropped out from under her. "He knows we're from the future? How?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not that. But he knows we're AWAL."

Sakura closed her eyes, imagining that if she couldn't see the despair on her best friend's face than it wasn't true, that they didn't have a catastrophe in the making waiting for them. "How?" she repeated.

"Your clone took a kunai to the shoulder."

She winced. That would do it. She hadn't shown she had the ability to make shadow clones. Sakura could actually only make two at most, but Sasuke would know instantly that something wasn't right when the clone he thought was real disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"And yours?" Sakura knew she wasn't going to like his answer, but she had to know.

"Jumped in front of the claw." He answered morosely.

"We're going to have to tell him."

"I know."

"He's going to hate us."

"I know."

"Or he might not believe us."

"I know."

"But he deserves the truth."

"Not all of it."

"Right," Sakura said softly, "not all of it." It was too soon to tell him about the truth behind his clan's massacre and his brother's act of heroism and loyalty.

"Let's go." He ordered firmly, and Sakura silently leapt after him.

* * *

The memories of Naruto's clone haunted him. He had told Sakura that there was nothing they could do about it now. Sasuke and Yamato were all the way in Snow.

Had it just be his henged clone, his clone would have discretely made another to replace Sakura. But both of them had been dispelled.

And Naruto didn't think he'd ever forget the look of shock, pain, and betrayal on Sasuke's face just before his clone popped.

Kami, he prayed that this didn't undo all their work so far.

* * *

Sasuke blinked at the place where Sakura had been standing just seconds ago. Not even the cloud of smoke, the tell-tale sign of the Shadow Clone jutsu, remained. The copy of Naruto that had been seized by the retractable claw was similarly gone.

He didn't know where his teammates were, or how Naruto managed to pretend to be Sakura so well, but he was going to find out. Wherever they were, they had abandon their mission, a voice in the back of his head sounded that they had left him behind and Sasuke tried to ignore it. It hurt him beyond words to realize that they weren't here, that they had gone of who knows where without him, that they didn't trust him.

It wasn't like them. When he saw them next he was going to demand answers.

For now, he created two shadow clones, which he could do thanks to copying it from Naruto with his Sharingan, and transformed them to appear like his missing teammates. Luckily for them, Yamato had not witnessed the two clones' deaths.

He didn't know what their reason was, but they wouldn't have used such a deceit if it wasn't necessary. And he wasn't going to do nothing and let them be branded traitors. So Sasuke would finish this mission, and when he got his hands on Naruto and Sakura, they had better have a pretty damn good answer for running off.

* * *

Temari didn't know what she was expecting, having never been interrogated or tortured before. But the last thing on the list was for Kakashi Hatake to walk through the door of the room she had been chained in.

She could tell his disguise wasn't a henge, it was too easily detected and disrupted to be a useful infiltration tool. So the silver hair was dyed brown and slicked back with gel, and he had to have had some really superb contacts to mask the Sharingan red and black.

Both his eyes widened upon seeing her.

Temari assumed he must have been expecting Tsunade in her place.

And instead of thinking that all their secrecy might just be blown sky high and that she was screwed, she could only focus on the fact that she was seeing his face without the mask.

 


	12. Chapter 11

Many people were surprised when Kakashi told them his least favorite aspect of a shinobi life.

It wasn't the countless (1,492), and ever climbing, number of people he had killed, whether from the Third Great Shinobi War, assassination missions as an ANBU, or just the unfortunate ninja that got between him and his missions or threatened the lives of his comrades. His hands had been bathed in an ocean of blood.

But it wasn't glorified murder that twisted Kakashi's heart. Murder was inevitable, inescapable, expected. To be a shinobi was to be a killer. He was desensitized to killing at this point, often preferring that as the solution as opposed to sparing a life that might seek revenge in the future, just as Sasuke was.

He killed in the name of Konoha. He cut down his village's enemies, protecting his home, a home that would nurture the seeds of the next generation. Kakashi killed for the future.

One filled with peace like his sensei wanted.

Some thought he hated the idea of being a sensei, justifying their theory with the fact that he had tested ten teams before his current one and he had failed each and every one of them. Kakashi stood behind his decisions. Those gennin had not been ready for the responsibility of being a shinobi. They could not see underneath the underneath, more often than not getting in each other's ways in attempts to get their hands on a bell. One time it had been because he really disliked the one boy who wouldn't shut up about how Sakumo Hatake was a disgraceful shinobi.

Sandaime-sama had given him no grief that year despite his thrashing the pre-gennin badly enough to merit a hospital visit.

But they, too, were wrong. Kakashi was enjoying being a sensei. It was a lot more satisfying to be the jounin overseer on a D-rank than to be the gennin assigned to complete it. Now he understood why Minato-sensei liked it so much.

Admittedly, if it hadn't been for Naruto, who was his sensei's son, and for Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha, Kakashi would have failed that team like they were any other. But the Council would never have let him send their precious last Uchiha back to the Academy. Not that he would have. Sasuke reminded him so much of Obito. In looks, not personality. He was much more like himself in that manner. But that made it easy to connect with the broody boy, and even though senseis weren't supposed to have favorites, Sasuke was one of his.

Naruto, of course, was the other. The blonde looked like his father so much that Kakashi would nearly call him Minato if he had been thinking about the past again. He was rather surprised that no one had figured out the boy's parentage. The blonde had his father's charisma, spiky hair and blue eyes. Naruto looked more like Minato than even his sensei's own clone sometimes, if that even made sense, but his attitude and talent for pranks was a dead ringer for Kushina.

Not to mention the last name Uzumaki, a clan whose village had been wiped out and Kushina was one of the few remaining members of, and the only one in Konoha after Mito-sama's passing.

Even Sakura was worming her way into his heart now that she was over her Sasuke fangirl days and was putting her brain and outstanding chakra control to good use. She had been his least favorite. Kakashi felt she had no business being on his team when all she could do was fawn over the Uchiha boy like Rin once did over himself. It would only get her killed like his female teammate.

That had been the only similarity he had seen between Sakura and Rin until he witnessed the petal haired girl healing Sasuke's ankle.

But something had changed her and now she was an equal member of Team Seven. Sakura voiced her opinions, no longer caring if Sasuke shared the same view. In fact, her crush seemed to be completely gone, almost like it had never existed in the first place.

If it wasn't for the Academy instructor's profiles, he would have thought she had always been this level headed.

Not that those profiles were very useful. Aside from the fact that only Sasuke's matched the person, there was only so much a piece of paper could tell you. Never mind that shinobi couldn't afford to have detailed analyses of them lying around.

But no, it wasn't teaching that he disliked. Teaching was fulfilling. Team Seven was his pride and joy. He was debating changing their name on official rosters to Team Kakashi like his own team had been Team Minato. Named teams sent fear down the spines of enemy shinobi. Enemy lines fled when whispers of Team Minato or the Densetsu no Sannin approaching reached their ears.

What Kakashi abhorred above all else were infiltration missions.

Ninjas were masters of deception. He could disguise himself with ease, genjutsu if it was a civilian target, or hair dyes, contacts and make-up, if it was shinobi. And certain mannerisms were easy to mimic after years of hiding behind the mask of a perpetually late, carefree, seemingly apathetic pervert.

It was harder for him, sure, with how recognizable he was. He was one of three ninja with the famous Sharingan kekkei genkai, and the hitai-ate slanted over his left eye was a dead giveaway, but most shinobi could distinguish his identity from his mask alone.

But that still wasn't his issue with infiltration missions. Kakashi could live without his mask if it was necessary. At first he wore it to remember his mother. It was one of the last things she had given him before she died. Then it was to hide his similarities to his father after that disastrous mission that saw him shamed and disgraced. Even after he had come to view Sakumo as a hero he didn't remove the mask, because it was a part of him by that point, and he very much enjoyed indulging himself in games where his friends (and students) tried to guess what the mask hid (or stalked him poorly for several days trying to catch him without it).

The jounin's hatred came from having to pretend to fit in with whatever group he needed information from. Konoha didn't send its jounin out to play dress up on a whim. Infiltration missions targeted groups that posed a threat to Konoha's security and well-being. The group's Kakashi often found himself involved in were shady.

The less than savory acts he had to commit to gain admittance and trust, to ascend the ranks to where he was a core member, freely given the information he wanted to find, made Kakashi want to scrub his skin raw.

Torture was high up on that list. It was a common theme amongst these groups, to force the newbie to guard, take care of, interrogate and torture, and then dispose of the prisoner. He was no Ibiki. He did not enjoy completely shattering another person; body, mind and soul until they cracked. One Ibiki (and one female version of him) was more than enough.

Kakashi hated causing those people pain, because ninety percent of the time they were innocent and only involved because group was bored and got their kicks out of listening to them scream and watching them suffer.

When the Copy-nin entered that room, he expected to find another civilian huddled in the corner of the room furthest away from the door, knees drawn up to chest and arms wrapped around legs, as if by making himself as small as possible that he could pretend the situation didn't exist, that he wasn't captive, that there was no chain locked around his ankle and anchored to the wall, that he wasn't going to be put through an unimaginable hell.

His eyes widened at what he found waiting for him.

Inside was a young girl, sixteen at the oldest, with sandy blonde haired pulled back into four ponytails and wearing traditional garb of Suna and her forehead protector over her neck, a rather good decision considering the neck was the ideal target for quick kills.

Her eyes widened when he strolled in, recognizing him underneath the darker pulled back hair and black eyes he sported.

And then Kakashi's eye's narrowed suspiciously. He knew this girl to be a gennin of Suna, having seen her at the chuunin exams. She was part of the team that Team Seven faced in the second round of the finals, the Sand Siblings. The Kazekage's daughter. Kakakashi remembered her being prepared for her country's invasion and voluntarily fighting against her people.

But what was she doing here? For what purpose did Kabuto take her captive?

His ears caught the whispered name of his female student. This girl apparently knew Sakura, but Kakashi didn't know what his pink haired student had to do with this. She wasn't her too, was she?

And there was still no explanation for how the Suna kunoichi knew who he was and he could draw no logical reason for her capture.

Kakashi's disguised Sharingan whirled, casting a genjutsu on the hallway outside. Any that entered would hear a girl screaming and sobbing and begging.

"Who are you?"

"Temari."

"What does he want with you?"

The girl only gave him a confused look. "I don't know." But that was a lie. Or at least not the whole truth. Kakashi could see the suspicion and hard edge in her green eyes. She had some idea.

"Does it have anything to do with the Kazekage?"

"My father is dead." She replied flatly.

"Do you know of anyone else down here? Is Sakura here?"

"Tsunade-sama." Kakashi visibly drew back at her answer. Tsunade's presence was even more unexpected than this girl's. He needed to get a message back to the Third. "And her assistant. Although I don't know where she is. Sakura's not here."

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. The possibility of his female student being there as well was the worst nightmare. It was too close for comfort to what happened on his first mission as a jounin and he could not handle it if he lost another teammate. "How long have you been here? Will anyone know you're missing?"

Temari shrugged, unconcerned with her situation. "A couple of days according to Tsunade-sama."

"And will Suna send teams to find you?"

"My brother will be here soon."

That sentence told Kakashi a lot. First, she had said brother, singular, when he knew that she had two. That in and of itself said a lot. There was clearly some love lost between the Kazekage's children. Temari and the red haired boy seemed much closer to each other than they were to their second sibling. The other boy was the only one unprepared by the sudden change of heart during the invasion.

Kakashi could also sense that she had wanted to add more to that sentence, but had stopped herself from saying anything else. So there was definitely more than one person coming to her rescue, but she was protecting whoever else it was. That meant that whoever was coming to who aid wasn't from Suna, but was still someone she was very close to, and someone whose involvement would raise many questions.

Then there was the way she hesitated. Most shinobi could name the person that would be heading their rescue and recover mission should a mission go sour, the first person that would leap to their defense.

Had Obito been alive he would have been the first in line to save Kakashi's sorry ass, just like he had for Rin. As it stood, Gai would already be halfway to his position, followed by Kakashi's gennin as soon as they were informed and could sneak out of the village.

Temari's instinctual thought had been the person's whose identity she was protecting and her brother was second choice.

Not that Kakashi thought her brother wouldn't tear the Elemental Nations apart until he found her, but he was not the one Temari expected to be the first to break down the door.

* * *

The normally silver haired man took the time to review his choices. He could not leave a young kunoichi in the hands of these criminals. And he needed to get Lady Tsunade out as well. Whatever Kabuto needed her for was bad news for Konoha.

The traitor had made his loyalties very clear after his master's death in the Forest of Death. Kakashi didn't know if Tsunade was capable of raising the dead, but he had no intention of finding out.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do."

Kakashi outlined a plan where he would place Temari in a genjutsu so she could believably act like he had tortured her. He would return her back to the cell she shared with the Slug Sannin, and when it came time to give the prisoners their evening meal, slip her the seal that would inactivate the chakra draining bracelets.

The jounin would meet them outside their cell three hours later, with Tsunade's assistant in tow hopefully. Kakashi did not know the two woman were even in the premises but had a few guesses as to where she would be. Then he would lead them out.

He would have to abandon the mission but he knew the Third Hokage would understand.

* * *

That was the plan, until the entire hideout shook violently.

Kakashi didn't know who found them, but knew they had to be strong. The cells were several floors under the earth's surface. But he was going to take advantage of this opportunity.

A simple raiton jutsu cut through the chain tethering Temari and the newly freed kunoichi dashed after the Copy-nin. They went for Tsunade first, since they knew where she was.

"I can't remove the bracelets yet, so you two will have to stay back." Kakashi apologized as he told the two females that they would only get in his way.

Tsunade had huffed. Kakashi didn't doubt she still had a stronger than average punch without her chakra, but it really was easier if they would let him handle anyone they came across.

Unfortunately, Tsunade did not know where her apprentice was being held and had nothing Kakashi could give to his ninja hounds so they could track her.

The base shook again and they could hear several screams sounding from above. Whoever was here was working their way down quickly. Kakashi was grateful for the help. He could hand the too currently helpless kunoichi off to the rescue party and search the base for Shizune. Even if he had nothing personal of hers to track her with, his hounds could sniff out the scent that all Leaf shinobi had.

That gratefulness fled when Sakura of all people obliterated a wall in front of them, the three of them barely dodging the body she had punched into it.

"Sakura!"

Pink hair whipped around at her sensei's cry. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"What are you doing here?" They said at the same time.

"Did you find her, Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah!" she shouted over her shoulder. "Kakashi-sensei's got her."

"Kakahsi-sensei?" Naruto, sticking out like a sore thumb in his bright orange jumpsuit, appeared next to his teammate.

"What are you doing here?"

Kakashi ignored his question. How had Naruto and Sakura found Kabuto's base? How had they known Temari was here? How did they manage to get to the lower levels? How? How? How? The question repeated in his brain. It didn't make any sense. Was Sakura the person Temari expected to come to her aid first? Had she whispered the pink haired girl's name because she was begging her to come save her, and not because she recognized him as said girl's sensei?

Temari darted forward, throwing her arms around his two students. "Where are the others?"

Kakashi's eyes widened. Others? She was expecting more people. Who though? Her brother, obviously. And Sasuke must be around somewhere if Naruto and Sakura were here.

He watch amazed as Naruto dismantled the bracelet on the Suna kunoichi's ankle. Kakashi knew that was a complex seal and could not understand how his student had undone it. He hadn't seen the boy write any seals, and it wasn't like he could have had one prepared ahead of time.

He watched closely as he knelt at Tsunade's feet to undo hers, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he drew the seal directly on the metal with chakra.

The Fourth Hokage had been and Jiraiya was considered a seal master. But Kakashi had never seen his sensei or the Toad Sage display this skill with fuuinjutsu. He hadn't even known that seals could be written without ink or blood.

Where had Naruto learned fuuinjutsu?

Concern bubbled in Kakashi's chest, along with worry and suspicion. He knew his team had changed in the last few months, he had watched their growth closely, but the abilities he was seeing did not match what he knew of his students.

He didn't think they were spies, but he couldn't help but wonder where they were learning all this from and how they were practicing it. It certainly wasn't safe to be doing on their own.

Given the current situation, Kakashi decided it was best to wait until they were in safer territory to question his students.

"Mou, not that this reunion isn't touching, but we need to keep moving. We need to find Shizune and regroup with the rest of your team."

The three gennin flinched at his cheerful tone.


	13. Chapter 12

Sakura swallowed, trying to hide her uneasiness. 

It didn’t help. Her throat still itched and her mouth was as dry as parchment. Her heart, beating a million miles a minute, felt like it was going to explode.

None of it came from her seeing her sensei without the black mask that covered half his face. Sakura had actually seen it once before. Kakashi never explained how he had managed to break three of his teeth, but Sakura asked no questions, although she figured it came from one of Gai-sensei’s ridiculous challenges. She was used to her silver haired sensei slipping through her windows with varying injuries at odd hours of the day. 

Kakashi’s hatred of hospital’s was legendary and Sakura would rather he woke her up at four in the morning with his guts spilling out of his stomach than to have him not seek medical attention.  So she didn’t pry as she fixed his teeth.

And she never let Naruto know that she had seen their sensei without his mask.

As it was, Sakura wished he was wearing it now. Naruto’s ogling aside, she didn’t want to see Kakashi’s face. Not when he was going to find out everything. That they had not brought Sasuke with them; to the past or on this rescue mission. 

Disappoint that was normally only visible in the furrowing of the eyebrow and the expression in his one eye would be worse now that nothing was hidden. 

Would the corners of his mouth turn down like his eyebrow did? Would Kakashi’s lips thin in displeasure? Or would he pull the scary aura card while pretending to be cheerful?

Sakura shivered at the image of Kakashi smiling widely at them while a black and white ghostly image of him raged and scolded them over his shoulder. Personally, she thought that would be the worst one. 

The pinkette looked at her teammate from the corner of her eye. The three teenagers were walking between Kakashi and Tsunade, and Kami if seeing her shishou alive, healthy, and young didn’t bring back memories.  Temari was in the middle, with the Jinchuuriki to her right.

Naruto was cradling his head with his hands behind it, looking for all the elemental nations like he was casually strolling down the street to Ichiraku’s and not through one of Orochimaru’s hideouts that they had just razed to the ground. 

It had been one of the many they had searched looking for Sasuke. In all honesty, Sakura didn’t remember this one particularly well. It had been just another dead end in their fruitless chase. The base had been empty the first time they found it. Completely devoid of life, left behind experiments, or anything that would have proved Orochimaru was there at one point.  

It was good luck on their part that they had known where this base was. Actually, it was fantastically good luck. Too good to be true. 

The strawberry haired girl had known that the time travelers’ good luck would not last. All too soon would the time come when their presence in the past brought about changes even Shikamaru couldn’t predict. 

And it had. The world came crashing down around them. Temari had been kidnapped. Then they found Tsunade and Kakashi with her. 

The future was changing. Too fast and too soon. Soon it would be unrecognizable. Then the five of them might as well be gennin again, drowning, in over their heads in matters that had been brewing since before they were born. 

One glance at Naruto told her that he knew the truth. They had been stupidly trapped in a cage of their own making. 

Now they would have to come clean. 

And it would not be pretty.

‘No, definitely not pretty,’ Sakura thought, as Gaara and Shikamaru came barreling down the tunnel with an unconscious Shizune being carried by the to-be-Kazekage’s sand, seeing the way Kakashi’s face had hardened. 

* * *

Naruto watched, grinning stupidly, as Shikamaru threw himself at the Suna kunoichi. It had been several years, since he had witnessed the genius asking Gaara for permission to marry her, that the blonde had seen him so uncomposed. The gritty and bloody details of the war had barely drawn a sigh of troublesome from his lips by the end, but Temari had dug her nails in and cracked open his shell. Only she could bring forth such a reaction in Naruto’s strategist. 

And while the blonde was overjoyed that Temari was safe, watching their reunion only made it obvious how alone he was, reminded Naruto that his love was a twelve year old girl that couldn’t be in the same training grounds as him without fainting. 

“Now that we’re all reunited, perhaps we could keep moving?”

Naruto flinched at Kakashi’s light question. That was the tone he used before a dressing down whenever the blonde had done something monumentally stupid. Like the time he had let that team of shinobi from Kumo beat him up for information on Sasuke.

His sensei had said it was an idiotic move. The Kumo ninja had been looking for somebody to take the brunt of their rage and Naruto had offered himself up on a silver platter to no end, because the team had sprinted away upon hearing Sasuke was rumored to be somewhere in Lightning Country still.

Kakashi had reamed him out for that, reminding Naruto that Sasuke was no longer his responsibility, nor was he ever, and that he could not volunteer to be a punching bag to every irate shinobi that felt he or she had been wronged.

“I’m sure, Naruto and Sakura, that you’ll have a wonderful explanation once we’re in a safe location?”

Naruto subtly moved away from his sensei, hiding behind Shikamaru, who had taken his spot next to Temari when he and Gaara had rejoined them.

Kakashi was going to kill them.

* * *

Reaching the surface had been easy. 

Kabuto had run, like the non-confrontational bastard that he was, as soon as he realized the base was under attack. To the standard the time travelers had come to expect from the spy, he did not stay unless he could get something out of it. And he saw nothing to be gained by staying and facing them.

The many freaks that Orochimaru found or made posed no threat. With five people from the future, Kakashi of the Sharingan, and one of the Legendary Sannin, they were overpowered with great ease. 

The conversation that followed the second Tsunade called for a rest so she could check on both Temari and Shizune was not so easy.

Their sensei had dug a hand into Naruto’s and Sakura’s shoulders and guided the pair a few feet away. Close enough to still be in view of the rest of the group but far enough to not be over heard so long as they were not shouting at the top of their lungs. 

“What are you two doing here? You’re supposed to be with Yamato.” He hissed. 

Sakura tugged her bottom lip into her mouth, letting Naruto answer. “We had to rescue Temari. And we couldn’t leave Baa-chan behind!”

Kakashi looked momentarily bewildered by the blonde’s endearment. Naruto had originally started calling Tsunade by Baa-chan when he was an ignorant and overly familiar boy. Eventually it had become an affectionate nickname for the woman he viewed as a mix between mother and Hokage. 

The silver haired jounin tightly pinched the bridge off his nose, wondering if his student was being deliberately obtuse. Before the chuunin exams, Kakashi would have believed Naruto to be entirely honest in that answer. But the too relieved look in his eyes and the slightly relaxed but nevertheless tense body the relayed a readiness for offense or defense. 

Not to mention he couldn’t understand how the bond between his students and the kunoichi from Suna could be strong enough for Naruto and Sakura to risk charges from incompliance to treason when they had only met at the chuunin exams. 

“And how did you know your friend was in trouble?” Kakashi decided to change tactics. If they wouldn’t tell him outright why they had left the village in search of the girl he would read between the lines of what they would tell him. Kakashi was better than most jounin at looking underneath the underneath. 

Naruto shrugged. “Knew about it almost immediately. I was standing outside the Old Man’s office when a chuunin brought him the message.” 

‘He knew about it immediately alright. But before the Hokage did. He would have never let three of his gennin scour the country for one missing girl, Kazekage’s daughter or not,” thought Kakashi. And Sakura appeared to know how Naruto received that information, because she was still chewing on her lips; a tick of hers whenever she was nervous.

“I see.” He said calmly, watching as the slight furrowing of the pinkette’s eyebrows slackened and Naruto’s shoulders slumped infinitesimally. “Now the truth.”

Blue eyes, just like Minato’s met with emerald ones. Kakashi observed as the duo seemed to hold a silent conversation, one’s orbs occasionally darting to the side to look at the other three members of their rescue party. 

The conversation continued for several minutes and Kakashi was prepared to make his demand a second time. Judging by the resigned sigh Sakura gave, her blonde teammate must have been the victor of their debate. 

“What would you say if I told you I could see the future?” Naruto asked boldly.

Kakashi blinked once. Seeing that his student still bore a serious face, he dug a pinkie into his ear, only to find no wax. “You mean to tell me that you can see the future?”

Naruto firmly nodded. “I don’t believe it. There is no way to see the future.”

“It could be a kekkei genkai,” Sakura said, offhandedly.  

Kakashi gave her the beady eye for a second. “His parents showed no sign of such an ability. It does not exist.”

“Then you would believe that we traveled back in time.”

“Why would I? Do you realize how insane you sound?”

“It’s not insane at all. My father could manipulate time and space. Why can’t I?” 

The words from his student were so collected and logical that it took Kakashi a minute to process what he had said. Naruto knew who his father was. How could he? The Third Hokage had never let anyone know Naruto’s true parentage. Minato and Kushina had taken extreme caution when she was pregnant. Hardly anyone knew her baby was Minato’s.

‘Could he really be telling the truth? Could they be from the future?’ Kakashi shook his head, dismissing the thoughts as preposterous. He had caught the change from ‘I’ to ‘we.’ But it was impossible. Five people simply could not have come back in time.

“What if I show you a jutsu?” Naruto offered.  “One of my dad’s. Would that be proof enough for you?” 

Kakashi nodded numbly. Minato kept his prized jutsus close to his chest. His sensei had never taught him his Rasengan or Flying Thuder God techniques. Kakashi only knew of one person who could pull of the former.

There was another silent conversation between Sakura and Naruto, though brief this time. Then Naruto’s eye changed from blue to gold, gaining a horizontal pupil characteristic of toads, and orange shaded his eyelids. 

Before his eyes, Kakashi watched as chakra compressed in the palm of his student’s hand, becoming visible as a swirling ball of chakra. Then that chakra started extended beyond the sphere until it resembled the shape of a shuriken spinning around it. 

The whistling from the jutsu caused Shikamaru, Gaara, Temari, and Tsunade to glance over. The first three returned to the conversation they were having, wholly unconcerned by Naruto’s amazing feat, while the last gaped at the boy.

Only Kakashi’s years of experience as a shinobi and training to not move and possible give away his position kept him from seeking support from a tree when Naruto threw the jutsu like it was a metal shuriken. 

Naruto’s Rasengan ripped through trees, whistling as it went, until there was nearly a mile stretch of trees cut down near the base. 

Kakashi had seen Jiraiya use this jutsu before. But it had not looked like the one Naruto just made. 

“I believe you,” he said faintly.

And he truly did. There was no way Naruto could have learned that jutsu from anyway but the Toad Sage. And considering that he had entered Sage Mode before using it and the fact that Jiraiya had not been in the village since Minato died, Jiraiya could not have taught it to him yet. 

And Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru being from the future explain so many changes in mannerism that he and Asuma had witnessed in them during the chuunin exams. ‘No wonder he and Sasuke stopped fighting like Konoha and Iwa during the Third Great Shinobi War,’ he mused.

“How? Why?”

He received heavy sighs from both his students. Masks he had not known they were wearing dropped and suddenly he could see the war hardened and world weary adults they would grow to be. 

It was a long story, starting with the First Hokage and his best friend, Madara Uchiha. Madara had grown envious of Hashirama and then hateful when it was Hashirama and not himself chosen to be Hokage. The story told of brothers killed, or Madara’s breaking away. It spoke of betrayl: Madara’s, Danzou’s, and Sasuke’s. How the Uchiha Massacre was a cover up for the Uchiha’s coup de’ tat and that Itachi was not a criminal but a hero. A tale of revenge that spanned generations of Uchiha over a century and how their lust for power, for the Mangekyou, drove them insane.

To the point that Sasuke believed with his whole heart that the entire world deserved to suffer as the Uchiha clan did. He systematically proceeded to destroy the elemental nations until he was defeated by Naruto.

Kakashi listened silently, absorbing everything his two students shared. For a long while he said nothing. “Why didn’t Sasuke return as well?”

“We couldn’t trust him. He was unstable.”

The jounin clenched his jaw. That was understandable. A twelve year old Sasuke that had almost singlehandedly destroyed everything was not someone he wanted to convince to not seek revenge. But . . .

“And why didn’t you bring him along to rescue the girl? Surely you could have feed him the same lie you gave me.”

“Sasuke wouldn’t have believed that tripe.” Sakura snorted. “And could you imagine us telling him were from the future? He would tell us to stop dreaming and spend more time training.”

“And what are you doing to do if he confronts you?”

“We will tell him everything.” Naruto said staidly. “But only if he comes to us first.”


	14. Chapter 13

Naruto had been hoping to put this conversation off.

Kakashi may have believed that he and the others had well and truly managed to travel through time, with a little convincing, but he was not happy that he and Sakura, and by extension Shikamaru, had kept their circumstances a secret.

The jounin understood that they were desperately fighting against a future that was undesirable in every way. He admitted forthright that he would have chosen to take the risk as well.

And just when Naruto and Sakura thought they were in the clear, Kakashi reamed them out for not being honest.

Time travel was not well documented. Mainly for the reason that people who attempted to do so often wound up dead, wrecked their chakra coils completely, or screwed up the jutsu so miserably that they sped up their biological clock, resulting in them aging centuries in the span of second and turning to dust.

It was a dangerous process, and rightly so, because even should you succeed, you are altering events that occurred.

The five of them may have had the right intentions in trying to prevent the destruction of the world, but it was also possible that they could bring about the end of the world in an entirely different way and at a completely different time. Jutsus that manipulated time were finicky like that. They were notorious for having obscenely complex sealing arrays to activate that needed to take into account several seemingly inconsequential details so as to not completely eradicate the flow of time.

In all of the history of the shinobi world, Kakashi only knew of two people with the ability to manipulate time, and it was nothing compared to the scale at which the five survivors from the future had done. The first was himself. With the Sharingan eye he had received from Obito, the silver haired man could transfer objects, people, and even jutsus to another dimension.

The other was his jounin-sensei, Minato Namikaze, who had been famous for his Flying Thunder God technique that earned him the nickname of the Yellow Flash. It had also earned him the enmity of Iwagakure, whom he had devastated with it. Although the Yondaime could only displace himself through the use of seals on kunai.

Kakashi had told them in no certain terms that they were foolish to not come forward with the situation. The Third Hokage would not have ignored them. Then, he too, would have known what signs to be looking for.

He thought them more than a little preposterous for believing they could change coming events on their own. Kakashi had a serious point, there. So far, the five of them were playing off their reputations. Suna’s citizens still feared their Jinchuuriki, and since Temari now stuck as close to him as his sand did, both she and Gaara were avoided like the plague. Similarly, most of Konoha viewed Naruto as a demon and were content to ignore him. Shikamaru, typical lazy Nara that he was, and Sakura, with her civilian background, were often overlooked.

Plus, with an excessive use of clones, it was a piece of cake for them to fade from sight and do what they needed to in order to see changes happen.

The tail end of his lecture applied to his students more than it did Shikamaru, Temari, and Gaara, seeing as it dealt with Sasuke.

Kakashi was of the opinion that the two of them had taken the wrong stance on their third teammate. Showing him their strength would not be enough for the last Uchiha to understand that true strength was found not in power and the number of jutsus you knew, but in the teamwork of a well-balanced team.

In all honesty, Naruto couldn’t disagree with his sensei. Beyond showing Sasuke that they were not as useless as he had thought, Naruto and Sakura had not done anything to include Sasuke. They trained with him, but as soon as training was over they vanished, heading for the Nara forests to carefully make plans about what they needed to change and the best methods to accomplish their goals.

The large group had eventually split into three. The Sand Siblings would be returning to Suna. Kakashi would bring Tsunade and Shizune back to Konoha and stall the Third Hokage with a story of small cloaked child sized people that had formed a cult to worship the Sannin’s ability to drink all day and not get drunk that had helped him rescue the two women.

In Kakashi’s mind, the story was so ridiculous that it couldn’t possibly be made up. Except anyone who knew the Copy-Ninja would call him out on his bullshit.

But Naruto let him do what he wanted. He and Sakura raced to the north. The pinkette’s face was furrowed as she tried to come up with a plausible excuse for their absence. Naruto received a heavy hit to the back of the head for suggesting that the two of them had been taken captive by the Snow ninja.

Imagine his surprise when they reached the Land of Snow just in time for the final battle against Dotō Kazahana and witnessed a clone of himself deck the bastard hard in the mouth.

Naruto couldn’t think of a reason why Sasuke had covered for them, beyond not wanting Yamato to call an end to the mission. Not that that was his style. Yamato was a stickler for the rules. He would finish the mission first and then lock him and Sakura in that giant wooden cage he was always using whenever the team fought.

Either way, Naruto hoped it meant Kakashi was wrong in his prediction about the Uchiha. They may not have included him in their extracurricular training, but with good reason.

On his best days, just thinking about the once future caused his throat to tighten in a mixture of rage and grief. His blue eyes would register a dying world instead of Konoha’s lush green forests. A world lit only by the forever burning black flames of Amaterasu. Flames that had been set ablaze by Sasuke.

First, he and Sakura would have had to explain the whole time travel thing, and it was a rather long explanation that had to include the beast in Naruto’s belly, the truth of his family’s massacre, and how it lead to war. Naruto wouldn’t be able to mince any details, either. Not if he want to impress upon Sasuke the seriousness of their decision, and that meant explaining why the Uchiha was fighting against them and telling the current version, who had yet to kill anyone, that he was responsible for the blonde’s death.

If they managed to get that for before Sasuke stormed off (which was the most probable reaction to hearing that Itachi had been tasked with annihilating his clan because they were planning to overthrow the Hokage), that in turn would lead to an explanation of how exactly the five of them had accomplished the impossible. If Naruto wanted to be vague and not name the rest of his coconspirators, Sasuke would never have to know his part in that venture. Which was good in his book, otherwise the explanation would end with how they couldn’t trust Sasuke.

As much as he wanted to save the man he thought of as a brother, Naruto had never planned to let him in on the secret. Sasuke’s stability stood on a precipice at this point, and the blonde didn’t want their warning to push him into Orochimaru’s and Madara’s arms.

Considering that not trusting him was what had gotten them in this situation in the first place, Naruto thought it best not to remind the Uchiha that was sending him death glares that they didn’t even trust his only slightly unstable twelve year old self.

* * *

 

Sasuke had waited patiently for an opportunity when Yamato wasn’t monitoring his two teammates with intense eyes.

He didn’t know the reason for it, but Team Seven’s temporary captain was clearly put on the team solely to keep Naruto and Sakura under his thumb. It hadn’t taken Sasuke long to learn this fact, but he still found it unusual. The man only let them out of his sight when they needed to relieve themselves, and even then, he would swear he once saw Yamato’s face in a nearby tree; pointed away of course, but it was disturbing all the same.

Recalling what he had learned from Iruka-sensei, secret observers such as Yamato were only set in place to follow people the Hokage considered to be a risk to the village.

It would have made perfect sense to the boy, if not for the fact that their captain was just as interested in Naruto as he was Sakura, who should have been his priority given what he knew of the girl’s arrest.

Sasuke’s teammates had rejoined with him at the very end of the mission. Naruto was unusually silent. The corner of his lips turned down ever so slightly and his eyebrows were a little closer together. Sakura, on the other hand, almost radiated worried, from the chew marks on her bottom lip to the constant flickering of her eyes between the object of her thoughts, him and the knucklehead.

Since Yamato did not appear to be relenting on his creepy hovering, he created his opportunity to drag his teammates into the trees by rigging a spring loaded trap that would launch approximately one hundred kunai at whoever triggered it. It was similar to that train they had encountered after Kazahana had run off. With luck, the man who acted as if he was made of wood he wielded would think it to be one of the enemy’s leftover traps.

By the time their captain’s attention had turned back to his students Sasuke had replaced all three of them with clones he had prepared.

“The hell was that for, teme?” Naruto nursed the bump that rose on the back of his head where Sasuke hit him.

“Checking to see if you were a clone.”

Sakura let out a giggle, and quickly stifled it with her hands when the two boys turned to glare at her. It turned to a yelp when Sasuke repeated his action on her.

Satisfied, for now, that he wasn’t being duped again, the Uchiha straightened to his full height and crossed his arms. One of the few things he had learnt from his father was that an imposing stance was a great trick for making other people feel small, and therefore below you. If you could show you held the power, you would get what you wanted. Fugaku always said, “ _Act as though your spine is tempered from the same steel as your kunai; then your back will never bend. You are an Uchicha and Uchihas do not bow to the whims of any man._ ”

“Explain.” His tone was as rigid as his body.

Naruto and Sakura instinctively shot a glance at the other from the corner of their eye. His ire flared at her hesitant nod and the way Naruto’s shoulders relaxed infinitesimally afterwards.

He had come to his own conclusions as to why the pair of them had disappeared. Given what he knew of Naruto, he figured it was one of the blonde’s harebrained schemes that he had somehow managed to drag her into. Despite how much he had matured and started taking his training seriously, instead of trying to outdo Sasuke, since the mission to Wave, the whiskered boy was prone to acting without fully considering the consequences.

To Sasuke, the only reasonable explanation was that Naruto had been about to do something monumentally stupid and Sakura had been trying to talk him out of it. But with that one look, he knew she was in on the secret too.

Whatever had happened, they were both aware and consciously chose to abandon the mission. He resolutely ignored the whisper at the back of his mind that said they had abandoned him. They had grown closer as a team, but that was all they were.

Sasuke couldn’t allow them to become anything more than teammates. If he let them get closer, if he pried open the locks on his heart and let someone in again, that man would sweep in and destroy him. He had already killed his family. Sasuke could not afford to indulge in bonds and friendships that could be used against him at the whims of a madman. His pain and suffering nearly destroyed him the first time. He would not survive a second.

Despite his best efforts, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi had wormed their way into the corner of his dead heart. So it hurt more than it should have when he realized he had spent over a week in the presence of shadow clones while they were off Kami knows where without him.

That was the real cause of his feeling like a kunai had been ruthlessly shoved into his chest and twisted violently. Sasuke had thought they had been getting closer. His teammates were nothing like they were in the Academy. He had finally reached a level where he started to respect their drive and efforts, and they pulled this stunt, pulling the tatami mat out from underneath his feet.

Naruto and Sakura were closer to each other than they were to him. They shared a stronger connection. It shouldn’t have bothered him, considering he did everything under the sun to prevent forming close attachments to anyone, but it did.

“Enough!” he snapped, heartily sick of looking on as they stared into each other’s eyes. If not for the seriousness drawn in the lines of their faces, Sasuke would have thought them to be gazing lovingly at the other. “Where did you two run off to?”

“It’s a long, story, Sasuke. Are you sure you want to know?” Naruto finally said.

He clenched his jaw to keep a biting retort from escaping his lips. Of course he wanted to know. He wouldn’t have asked otherwise.

He told the blonde as much. To which he replied, “You’re going to have to suspend your disbelief. What I’m about to tell you may seem impossible, but I swear to you, every word of it is true.”

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, but nodded his assent nevertheless. He would hold his tongue as long as he got the answers he was looking for.

He listened with an increasing sense of incredulousness as Naruto spun a grandiose story with uncharacteristic clarity of a world in which all five shinobi nations would go to war against the founder of his clan, Madara Uchiha, who was not as dead as the world was lead to believe.

Sasuke had promised to remain silent as he explained, with several interjections from Sakura, but when Naruto started explaining about a scroll that would allow them to travel backwards through time, he could listen no longer. “You cannot expect me to believe this nonsense! Time travel doesn’t exist. No one can manipulate time.”

“You’re wrong,” Sakura said at once. “Kakashi-sensei can with his Sharingan eye. He can move things from this world into another dimension. In theory, he could make his body intangible by transferring the matter to that other dimension.”

Sasuke felt blood rushing to his head as his anger mounted. “That’s not even close to what you’re trying to tell me you have done.”

“We can prove it. We have. To Kakashi-sensei.”

Oddly enough, that had a relaxing effect on the Uchiha. Kakashi Hatake was a notorious liar, but only about inconsequential matters. If they had told him the same story and he had not found it wanting, it had to be real. The last thing Kakashi would do was put his team in danger.

Still, he wanted proof of his own.

“And how would you do that?” Sasuke challenged.

“Why do you think we were so prepared for the invasion during the final of the chuunin exams? Why do you think Sakura was suddenly strong enough to hold off the Akatsuki member impersonating the Kazekage?” Naruto shot back. “This has already happened for us. We knew Orochimaru was gunning for you in the forest. We were devastated when that bastard Kabuto bit you.”

He hung his head, pain and regret lacing his words. “We thought we had spared you from having to struggle with that foreign chakra. It’s dangerous, Sasuke. Addictive. Every time you even think about using it the seal causes you pain.”

“Stop. Please.”

Sasuke had never shared how the curse mark on his neck felt, like evil given shape trying to slither its way into his coils. Even contained by a second seal, he could feel the mark burning, begging to be released. And if that knowledge wasn’t enough, the grief in Naruto’s expression was.

The blonde’s head was bowed and his shoulders hunched. His knuckles were a stark white compared to his normally tan complexion from the force which with he was clenching them. Sakura stood behind him, small hands resting lightly on his shoulders. The faintest green glow of medical chakra was the only evidence of her trying to ease the tension that held his body taught as a spring.

But his eyes said the most.

Naruto was harder to read than most people thought. No one gave him the credit he deserved for hiding how he truly felt. Shortly after his family had been massacred Sasuke had caught the blonde staring. He had instinctively started to sneer, for he didn’t want the monster’s pity, but he saw the emotions swimming in his eyes.

It was the same pain he felt. The same loneliness, the same confusion, the same betrayal.

Naruto hid his pain amazingly well under his mask of a prankster that couldn’t care less about what people thought about him, but with one look at his cerulean eyes, Sasuke knew that was not the truth. Every sneer, every derogatory remark, and all the derision he faced day in and day out cut deeply.

He was seeing the same eyes now. Blue orbs that screamed apology for not being able to save him this time. Eyes full of regret and the promise to do beter.

“I believe you,” he said quietly. His words bore an immediate effect on Naruto, who straightened as if his words had released a two ton weight from his shoulders.

“Thank you.”

* * *

 

“You left a great many details out of your explanation.”

Naruto did not react to her blunt statement. He eased himself toward the ground, putting his weight on his forearms so that he was not laid flush against the earth, and sent his gaze skyward. She thought it sad, the ease which with they could escape from under Yamato’s vigilant surveillance. “Yes, I did,” he said simply.

“Why?” Sakura sank to the ground next to him. “I thought we had agreed to tell him the truth if he asked.”

“I did tell Sasuke the truth.”

“What about Itachi’s predicament? His actions during the war? Or how about the little matter of him killing you?” she asked pointedly.

“He didn’t ask about that,” was her answer.

“Because he didn’t know to!”

Sakura had more she had wished to say, but stopped at the sharp look Naruto gave her. Right now, he was the Rokudaime Hokage.

“He was not ready to hear those answers. When he is, when he comes to me and asks the truth, I will give it to him. Until then, Sasuke knows what he needs to.”

The pinkette wanted to argue that this would blow up in their faces spectacularly. They had barely upheld the trust Sasuke had in them with their explanation of why they had to abandon their mission to rescue Temari. They needed to show him trust in return, and continuing to hide secrets was not the way to do it.

When Sasuke learned that they had shed light on Konoha’s illegal actions, he would lose any trust he had with them and throw the bonds they shared in the dirt once more. Then, all their efforts to save him would be for naught.

“Trust me, Sakura. That’s all I’m asking.” Naruto sounded as old as the Sandaime.

“Of course I trust you.”

That said, Sakura couldn’t help thinking that he had made the wrong choice. As she snuck into her bed that night she did not sleep. Instead she prayed. Prayed that by the time Konoha's dirty secrets were revealed, Sasuke was strong enough to see past his pain and respect the choice his brother made and that he would not go down the familiar path of causing Konoha's and the rest of the world's destruction.


	15. Chapter 14

The journey home was tense, to say the least. The atmosphere was so thick that none of Team Seven dared to speak. As it was, Sakura was jumping through the treetops on autopilot, her mind churning over the conversations her and Naruto and had with Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke in the last couple of days. The faint ‘tak’ sound of Sasuke’s sandals as he pushed off behind her served to remind the rosette that they were in some deep shit.

Their secret was practically out in the open now that they had to let Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke in on it. Only Kakashi was completely in the know, however, and only because Naruto figured the five of them would need an adult’s assistance to cover their tracks. Kakashi could pull out that eye smile of his and claim whatever they were doing was a training exercise. Not to mention that the silver haired man was a highly respected jounin with well-known quirks and he could get away with a lot more than a bunch of twelve year olds could. The Third Hokage was quite tolerant of Kakashi’s oddball habits and probably would think twice about whatever lie the silver haired jounin fed him because he trusted the man.

Honestly, Sakura thought it was wonderful to include an adult. It eased the burden on their shoulders now that there weren’t only five teenagers in the eyes of the rest of the world, who could hardly meet up now that the Chuunin exams were over, deciding the fate of the entire world.

On the downside, Sasuke’s partial knowledge put her on high alert. Amongst the three of them, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, and herself of course because the dark haired boy refused to acknowledge it, Sasuke’s tendency for jumping the gun was legendary. They all knew Naruto to be impulsive, but the blonde could be reasoned with, or forced not to run off until he had the full picture. The same could not be said for the last Uchiha.

It wasn’t as obvious before he left for Otogakure, but there were a couple cases. Most times it was because of his arrogance, like the time when he had been fighting Haku and stupidly thought he could handle Zabuza’s apprentice single-handedly. Another was how the Chidori became an automatic response for him. He stopped analyzing his opponents and looking for weaknesses in favor of charging in with his favorite jutsu, believing his speed to be unparalleled.

The most obvious was the Uchiha massacre. Their broody teammate had never really questioned his brother’s motives. He accepted them at face value and let Itachi control his life. And once Sasuke learned the truth, he jumped to inane conclusions again and summarily decided that everyone deserved to suffer like he had. His revenge had no restraints. In his eyes, the whole village was guilty for allowing the mass genocide of his clan to occur, so he set Konoha ablaze with his Amaterasu.

Because of that, Sakura believed wholeheartedly that Naruto had made a mistake in only telling their third cell member bits and pieces for two reasons.

First being, Sasuke had a right to know, and hiding the information would only make it appear to be secrets about him. He would put the horse in front of the wagon and assume they were being stingy with details pertaining to him, which was absolutely right, and would lead to point two; Sasuke overreacting without knowing all the cards on the table.

Sasuke would needle them, trying to trick them into revealing the truth she and Naruto were concealing, and when he learned the truth, it would be the destruction of Konoha all over again. There was no doubting that he would discover the whole truth. It was only a matter of time.

But when he did, everything they had been working on, all the changes they had seen in the broody boy, the bonds that were currently paper thin but on the mend, would be for naught. Because Sasuke would sever those bonds in a heartbeat when he unearthed their treachery.

Sakura glanced over her shoulder at her one time crush, thanking Kami she was long over her fangirl phase. It was embarrassing for her to even be called a ninja at that point. The usually bored look was replaced with a pensive one and he was clearly turning over each startling revelation they had shared, comparing it to what he knew, trying to make sense of it all when he didn’t know everything.

The sole female member of Team Seven turned to face forward again, her face giving no indication of the internal war raging within.

Unfair was the first word to spring to mind when she had looked back at Sasuke. It wasn’t fair, wasn’t right, that they told Kakashi-sensei everything but not their teammate. She and Naruto had fought so long, so hard, never giving up even when the rest of the world told them it was pointless, calling them delusional, thinking them to be weak, and scorning them for being unable to let go, to lose their chance to save Sasuke now. He was part of their team. Their family. Because that’s what Team Seven really was. A family whose ties were forged in the hellish flames that consumed the world.

If they did not trust Sasuke enough to fully include him . . . what was the point in turning back time and starting over? One wrong misstep, Sasuke would go down the same path as before and that burnt wasteland would be their present.

But what could Sakura do? Naruto was adamant that Sasuke wasn’t ready to know everything. Too unhinged were the words her Hokage had used.

That right there was the crux of the matter. Pulling Sasuke aside would be simple when they got back to Konoha. The Uchiha was so antisocial that getting him alone would be as easy as reciting the Shinobi Code of Conduct for Sakura. But doing so meant going against her Hokage whom she had sworn to follow and obey unwaveringly.

Naruto had struggled, sweat, blood, tears, and suffering, to get to where he was today. He had earned his position as Rokudaime Hokage a dozen times over. In her opinion, and there was no bias, there was no one that deserved the title more. He had toiled tirelessly to get the recognition, the respect, and eventually, the loyalty of the Leaf Village. His instincts, which he based all his decisions on, were sharper than the intellect he had gained over the years. If Naruto thought the best course of action was to tell Sasuke just the basics, who was she to argue?

Sakura steeled herself. She couldn’t be wishy-washy. She may have pledged loyalty to the blonde, but she wasn’t a sycophant. She wasn’t going to follow Naruto blindly. He had to have good reasons for his decisions. The medic was one of his advisors. Along with Neji and Shikamaru, it had been her responsibility to ensure that Naruto made the most informed choice possible, balancing benefits against consequences.

If Naruto thought his current stance was the least likely to backfire, he was in for a world of surprise, and hurt, when it did come to a head. Sasuke’s temper was explosive, especially if he had a righteous leg to stand on.

That decided it for Sakura. She wasn’t a wallflower. Considering the fact that she was technically twenty-three, she had vowed eleven years ago that she would never walk behind her boys again. She had to walk beside them on her own merits.

She’d take matters into her own hands. Naruto would be angry with her, but it needed to be done.

* * *

Feeling infinitely lighter with a decision made, Sakura quietly trailed Yamato to the Hokage’s office to give their oral reports. They covered the essentials. Whether or not the mission was a success and any significant snags they might have encountered. The written reports, due the next day, had to include every detail, no matter how inconsequential it seemed. There had been a class in the Academy dedicated to the proper way to write up a report, because they were supposed to be factual, but also include any inferences they made.

The moment Team Seven stepped into the Hokage’s office, she knew they were screwed. Her green eyes snapped to Naruto, and his tightened jaw told Sakura everything she needed to know.

They were royally screwed.

The reason being the figure sitting behind the desk was not the Sandaime, but Tsunade Senju instead.

That was an unexpected development. Previously, Tsunade took the helm because the Third Hokage had died. When they had split from Kakashi, Sakura thought Tsunade would be gone from Konoha before they returned from their mission. The Sannin didn’t have a reason to stay behind, so it made sense to Sakura that she wouldn’t stick around.

Discovering that she was still taking the hat was like getting punched in the stomach by the woman. She and Naruto could have bluffed their mission report for the Sandaime, provided Tsunade hadn’t said anything about a couple of chuunin crashing Kakashi’s infiltration mission.

The Fifth Hokage to be would know it was bullshit before they said a word. She was going to nail to them the wall. They should have sworn her to silence when they had the chance.

Well, Sakura thought cynically, at least she would have company for her second visit to T and I’s illustrious holding cells.

Even so, when it came her turn to report she took her cue from Naruto. She straightened her spine, folded her hands behind her back, and lied through her teeth.

* * *

Naruto had wanted to groan when he saw Baa-chan in the old man’s place. All the lies and half-truths he had told were piling up into a giant snowball. Not telling anyone what they had accomplished had really come back to bite them in the ass.

Tsunade had listened intently to them recount their mission to the Land of Snow, now the Land of Spring. The only indications of her mood were the narrowed eyes and lack of sake.

For whatever reason, the woman did not call them out on their lies. Didn’t summon the ANBU to take them away immediately.

The heavy silence remained after Yamato finished his report. Naruto was surprised to hear no suspicions cast on his and Sakura’s character. He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed that they were capable of tricking the elite, sad that their deception was going unnoticed in a village of ninja, or just jump for joy because they hadn’t been caught yet.

The busty woman reclined in her chair, twisting her wrist to call Shizune, previously standing in the corner with Tonton in her arms, to her side. The brunette bent at the waist so her lady could whisper in her ear.

“Right away, milady!” she answered, hefting Tonton the pig higher in her arms and slipping around the still assembled team and into the hallway.

“Now, I know none of you told me the whole truth.” Tsunade stood sharply, pinning them with menacing glare. “If you were any other team, a stunt like that would get you demoted and torn apart so fast. As it is, it’s extremely unusual for a gennin team to stay together after they make chuunin.”

Naruto’s teeth dug into his bottom lip. That was the worse punishment that she could give them. Team Seven was all its members had. The three males were all orphaned by tragic circumstances and Sakura’s civilian parents didn’t understand the lifestyle she had chosen. If they no longer had each other, they would be alone, and Naruto wouldn’t wish the feeling of being alone on anyone.

This Tsunade was so different from the Baa-chan he knew. His Baa-chan had understood how important the bonds between teammates were. _“It’s so uncool. I save her life and she thinks I’m some sort of spy.”_

The Kyuubi chuckled. **“Brat, it’s not like you saved her life this time. You just freed her from captivity.”**

_“So! That should count for something.”_

**“You’re a different person this time. When you first met her you were just an obnoxious brat with more determination and guts than a squad of Iwa shinobi combined. You set out to prove a point to her, which you managed through sheer stubbornness. And that was how you connected to her. You reminded Tsunade of her brother and lover. This time—“**

Naruto sighed, resigned. _“This time I came from nowhere to a place I wasn’t supposed to be. I get it. I’m still an idiot.”_

Feelings of acceptance, pride, friendship, trust, and caring flooded through the blonde. **“An idiot you may still be at times, but your heart is always in the right place. Don’t take her coldness personally. If you want that close relationship again, just keep on her like the annoying brat you used to be. Shout that you’ll take the hat from her. She’ll warm up to you.”**

 _”Thanks, Kurama.”_ Naruto valiantly tried to suppress his grin so Tsunade wouldn’t think he was mocking her.

“As it stands, I’m willing to ignore this incident, since it didn’t occur during my tenure, so long as it is the only one.”

If Naruto hadn’t faced the Juubi, he imagined he’d be sweating bullets from the substantial killing intent Tsunade was giving off.

There was a click behind them as the door swung open wide enough for Shizune to poke her head in. “I have it right here, milady. Do you want me to bring it in?”

“Yes.”

Shizune entered carrying a stone bust of Tsunade’s head, which she placed on the corner of the woman’s desk. It was a miniature replica of the face that would be carved into the Hokage Mountain when she was officially accepted.

“If it happens again . . .,” she flicked a forefinger at the statue. It exploded into a cloud of dust. The three chuunin hastily brought up arms to cover their mouths and noses. When the dust settled there wasn’t even a pile of rock fragments to prove there had once been a statue there.

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki swallowed tightly at Tsunade’s display, which certainly got her point across.

“The only thing that will be left of you will be smears of blood on my floor. Which I will leave as a reminder for the rest of my shinobi,” she finished.

Silenced reigned. “Team Seven, you’re dismissed. Don’t let me hear of anything like this happening again. Except for you, Yamato,” she called after their stand in team leader. “Kakashi has completed his mission and will be taking back command of his team. I have another assignment for you.”

The youngest three members trooped out of her office. Tsunade sent Shizune to the records room to find those for Team Seven and then activated a barrier seal that would give the two of them privacy.

“I know you were assigned to that team primarily to spy on Haruno, and Uzumaki by extension. I need you to step it up. The situation screams impersonators, but the girl’s already gone through interrogation. A Yamanaka pronounced her clean. It’s obvious that whatever it is, the Uchiha’s part of it.”

“Are you sure, Hokage-sama?” Yamato asked tentatively. “He could have remained with the mission to throw off suspicion on him.”

Tsunade could see why the wood user would think that. It would be a logical choice, keeping one man undercover. And if you had to choose one, she would have picked the Uchiha as well. The brat was the least likely to be watched. But it didn’t fit.

She shook her head. “No. If it’s genuinely them in control, Uzumaki and Haruno would have never left him behind. Not if he knew. That’s not Kakashi’s style. Teamwork comes first, so the Uchiha’s not part of this.”

“But—“

“Even if he was a plant too, the master mind would have known Team Seven doesn’t leave anyone behind. Focus your attention on the other two. I want this settled as quickly as possible.”

Yamato frowned. “Then why not just bring them in? Question them again.”

“Tell me how you knew they had left,” the blonde woman countered.

Yamato drew his eyebrows in, more than a little puzzled, but did as ordered. “It was rather simple. I knew from the beginning. It was clones of Naruto and Sakura that left with me.”

“What?” Tsunade interrupted. “They had clones take their place from the start? No clone should have lasted that long. The distance from the creator would have caused it to disperse.”

“Naruto has mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu.”

Tsunade placed her fingertips to her temple and rubbed them in circles to massage the headache she felt building. The usage of Shadow Clones pretty much shot a hole through her theory of them being spies from a foreign village. Like Mist had water clones and Rock had earth clones, the Shadow Clone was unique to Konoha.

That left some kind of mind control as the only option, but was there a way to control someone and be able to use their chakra? She knew members of the Yamanaka clan could enter the minds of others, but they were always using their own chakra even if they could control their opponent physically.

Did Konoha even have any rogue Yamanaka? Kami, she needed sake.

“There was a point during the mission where both Naruto’s and Sakura’s clones were dispelled. I did not witness it, but when we regrouped, Sasuke had used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to mask their disappearance.” The Mokuton user continued.

“How could you tell the difference?” Tsunade asked, more from curiosity than anything else. Shadow Clones were notorious for being indistinguishable from the original. Not even the Hyuugas with their Byakugan could differentiate them.

“Naruto does not have the greatest chakra control. So, while I didn’t know he was a clone immediately, I did know Sakura was, because he could not regulate his chakra to mimic her lower levels. As for Sasuke,” Yamato shrugged, “he didn’t have the chakra capacity to mimic Naruto’s.”

Tsunade snorted. That was a damn good thing. She shivered at the thought that someone could have enough chakra on their own to match that of the nine-tailed beast. She stood up quickly, sending her chair clattering to the floor.

“Yamato, I’ve changed my mind. I want them brought to Ibiki tonight. All of them. Uchiha included. Tell him he has permission to do whatever necessary to get answers.”

Large dark eyes blinked at her sudden change. “Ibiki, Hokage-sama? They are only thirteen.” Yamato cursed himself for the hint of concern in his voice. He was ANBU. He wasn’t supposed to display any emotions, but Team Seven had grown on him in the short time they had been together. He feared they would be utterly shattered under the head interrogator’s ministrations.

“Now!” she snapped. The ANBU knelt briefly in salute, fisting a hand over his heart, and vanished. Tsunade stood alone in her office overlooking the heart of the village.

Yamato’s words had resonated loud and clear. Handing off three newly minted chuunin to be interrogated by Ibiki was not something she enjoyed doing, but it had to be done. Her sensei would have skinned her alive if she did not give the brats a second chance, but she couldn’t afford second chances. She could not risk that some unknown person was manipulating Konoha’s Jinchuuriki. The Kyuubi had devasted her village once already.

As Hokage, Tsunade had to put the safety of her village first, above personal morals.

If she was wrong, and Kami did she pray she was, she’d compensate them somehow.

* * *

Sasuke tilted his head back when they hit the street. Maybe because it had been so tense and he was worried that the dobe and Sakura and maybe even himself would get arrested for treason and conspiracy, but that meeting hadn’t taken as long as he thought. The sun still hadn’t set.

Just then Naruto’s stomach rumbled, reminding him that it was past time for dinner. The three of them paused in the middle of the street and burst into nervous laughter.

Sasuke was honestly amazed they had gotten away clean with nothing more than a threat to be turned into paste.

When they finally calmed down, the dobe suggested they go to Ichiraku’s. Sakura readily agreed. He grunted. Naruto took that as acceptance and the trio made their way to his favorite ramen stand. Now that he knew about the time travel miracle, his teammates made sense again.

From the start, Sasuke had been the Rookie of the Year. The most talented gennin on the team. Then, without warning, Naruto, who was nowhere near his level, could hold his own against him and was winning spars left and right. Naruto’s unexplained talent had aggravated him to no end. To the Uchiha, it happened over night. One day the blonde was a pathetic dobe who yelled a lot but couldn’t back it up. The next, he was as experienced as their chronically late sensei.

Sakura’s transformation blindsided him more than it angered him, although he had been vastly annoyed that she trailed him like some fangirl if she actually had the skills she had been showing off during practices. And that was Sasuke’s first thought. That, for some reason, Sakura pretended to be weak. Because no one could learn medical ninjutsu or how to enhance physical strength with chakra in the time she had.

To Sasuke, it had been mindboggling to suddenly go from being superior to be equal, if not inferior to two people he had known he was better than. Kakashi’s training exercise before the final part of the Chuunin exams had given him a lot of insight into his teammates. In light of their revaltion, he knew it was a ruse.

Unconceivably, he felt like he was floundering. Until now, he had never cared that Naruto and Sakura were much closer to each other than they were to him. He knew that was on him, for the pair had tried to include him all the time and he brushed them off. Suddenly, Sasuke felt alone, like he didn’t belong because he hadn’t come back with them.

That nearly brought the Uchiha boy to a halt. Naruto had explained a lot, but Sasuke just realized that the whiskered boy never said what had happened to him. What had Sasuke been doing after the Fourth Shinobi World War? Why wasn’t he chosen to travel back in time with the rest of his time?

Honestly, he hadn’t given any thought to the other three people that had come back with his teammates. He knew Shikamaru was a genius and figured he was needed if they wanted to affect something as delicate as the future successfully. Two of the Sabaku siblings had given him cause to blink, but they, too, made sense when Sakura commented that Gaara was the future Kazekage. Sasuke would have chosen Temari over the brother as well.

Dark eyes fixated on spiky blonde locks. Naruto was walking between him and Sakura, and slightly ahead in his hurry to get to his favorite haunting ground.

Sasuke blinked at the formation, recognizing another subtle change his teammates had made in their dynamic. They had never presented a united front before the mission to Wave, but afterwards, more often than not, the three of them walked together.

It was never in the same order. When Sasuke had learned Naruto’s worst secret, he had unconsciously put himself on the blonde’s left side. Sakura was always on his right. Knowing that he held the Kyuubi and that was the reason for the awful treatment he had witness during that team shadowing exercise had stirred a sense of anger in Sasuke. It was completely unfair that a whole village treated Naruto like he was the demon.

Sasuke hadn’t realized it at the time, but whenever one member of the team was feeling vulnerable, the other two took up positions on either side, offering silent support. He had gotten an odd feeling when it was him in the center.

He understood more now, but their story didn’t explain why it was like they were trying to protect him. Just what the hell had happened to him in the future? Sasuke needed answers. Naruto clearly wasn’t going to give them to him. Sakura on the other hand might.

Dinner at Ichiraku’s was lively. Naruto was loudly telling the cook and his daughter how awesome he had been on their latest mission. Sasuke called it a night after his first bowl, by which point the dobe had already inhaled six. Surprising, his pink haired teammate rose as well, setting down a couple of coins for her meal.

“I’m going to head home, too,” she said with an apologetic smile towards Naruto. “It’s been a stressful week. Normal time?”

Sasuke briefly wondered what she was referring to. Naruto respond, however, aside from a nod. The rosette bid them both good night. She brushed past him as she left but was gone before he could even open his mouth to ask her to train with him tomorrow so he could grill her.

The black haired boy left Naruto to his dinner, huffing as he began the trek back to his apartment. He shoved his hands into his pockets. His left hand brush up against something kind of rough and paper like. The napkin, as it turned out to be, held a message from Sakura.

_Training grounds. One o’clock._

Sasuke smirked. He didn’t even see her write it. His gait was determined as he approached his apartment. He lay in bed mentally composing a list of questions. The top most being why wasn’t his future self involved and what could he do to help.

Whatever they weren’t telling him must have been truly horrible if they went to such lengths to change it.

* * *

Sakura balanced atop the wooden post Kakashi-sensei had once tied Naruto to for breaking the rules of his gennin test. She thought she would have felt anxious, going behing the blonde’s back and filling Sasuke in when she was well aware of how the truth might upset him. The only thing she felt was peace.

Sasuke would have startled her, all dressed in black, when he arrived, if not for the fact that she could sense his chakra. Right on the dot, as usual. He was always punctual.

“What is Naruto hiding from me?”

If that wasn’t a loaded question. “Sasuke, before I tell you anything, I need you to promise me something. Promise that you’ll listen before you get angry. There’s a lot that won’t make sense to you and even more that will hurt you. But I need you to not flip out.”

The Uchiha looked at her quizzically, but, thankfully, fully considered her warning. Sakura imagined he was trying to guess what secrets she knew could possibly infuriate him to that extent.

“Alright,” he consented, jumping up a little to sit on the post next to her.

“Promise?” she pressed.

Sasuke gifted her with a deliberate stare. “Ah. I promise.”

Sakura released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. It certainly explained the light headedness she was feeling. Promises were the backbone of Team Seven. Ironically enough, no member had ever broken one.

Naruto, who had promised her he would bring Sasuke back, had finally made him see the error of his ways. Sasuke, who had promised to kill Naruto if he kept interfering, succeeded in doing just that. Sakura had trained like mad to be on their level and not the weak member of the team they always had to protect. And Kakashi had died protecting them at the end of the war.

“The Council ordered the Uchiha Clan killed because they were planning a coup d'état. They were going to overthrow the Third Hokage and take complete control of the village. Itachi had to do it.”

Sasuke reeled back, teetering on his wooden post. Worried, Sakura reached out a hand to steady him, only to have it slapped away. Bright red Sharingan eyes glared at her through the fringe of his hair. “Don’t tell me,” he grit out, “that . . . that man is innocent. He murdered my entire clan!”

“For the good of the village.”

“For the good of the village!” Sasuke shouted, tomoe spinning madly. “What about the good of my clan? Even if some of them were planning a rebellion, did every child deserve to die?”

Sakura flinched at his cutting words. “Look,” she pleaded, “I know this is difficult, but if Itachi didn’t kill them, the Council was going to have ANBU kill everybody. You and your brother. Itachi did it to save you.”

The retort he had prepared died. Taking that as a sign, Sakura continued. “Itachi loves you. Everything he has done, and would have done in the future, was to protect you. You’re his most precious person,” she said softly.

Sasuke remained oddly somber as Sakura finished telling him everything they had left out the first time. For his own good, she didn’t pull any punches and try to spare his feelings. The pinkette simply told him everything. She bit her lip to keep from asking how he was feeling after she revealed what he had done to Konoha and the moments leading up to them using the time travel scroll. Uncontrolled emotions had flashed across his face. In the end, all Sakura could do was let him think.

“For what it’s worth, Sasuke. I’m sorry.”

He looked up at her. His Sharingan was turn off. “Sorry for what? That I turn out to be a bigger mass murderer than my brother?”

“That this happened to you at all. That we couldn’t save you. That we couldn’t bring you back with us. For everything, I guess.” This time he didn’t knock her hand away when she moved to comfort him.

Sasuke’s shoulders hunched, like he was carrying the weight of the world on them. In a way, he did, but Sakura didn’t point that out. He looked so defeated and weary that she couldn’t resist hugging him. She pulled back after a minute. Looking him directly in the eye so that he couldn’t miss the sincerity, she said, “Whatever you chose, Naruto and I will support you. You’re part of Team Seven. We’re like a family. We’ll help you in any way we can. I promise.”

He nodded solemnly and Sakura released him. “Just . . . take some time to think about what you want.”

“Ah.” Sasuke’s eye’s widened. The pinkette started at the fear she saw in them. “Sakura, behind you!”

The girl whirled around just in time to see a black cloaked figure with the iconic painted animal mask of the ANBU division. Then there was only darkness.

She cursed herself with her last thoughts. Because she had been caught out at night having a hushed conversation with Sasuke, they would think he was in on it too. She didn’t mean to get him in trouble. But he had a right to know the truth.

Sakura should have known better. She knew her shishou’s moods. Of course, she wasn’t going to just let them go. She had been careless. She had let her guard down at the most critical time and now Sasuke was going to pay the price for her mistake.

“I’m sorry, Sasuke.”

* * *

Tsunade stared at the three files sitting on her desk. They belonged to the chuunin that made up Kakashi’s team. Naruto Uzumaki’s picture was smiling brightly. She looked away, unable to bear how much the boy resembled Nawaki, from smile to ambition. Sakura Haruno’s picture showed a girl that followed protocol and didn’t understand what it meant to be a kunoichi. And Sasuke Uchiha’s was one of a surly child forced to have his picture taken. It had only been a couple months since the picture was taken, but the boy’s eyes held less hatred when he stood on the other side of her desk.

As Hokage, she alone had access to extensive files on every single shinobi under her command. After diligently reading through them, she concluded that the Uchiha was himself. But the other two had changed between the mission they took in Wave and the start of the Chuunin exams. Talents they hadn’t shown before and mannerisms they couldn’t hide.

She wondered, once she had finished reading, if she should rescind her order to take the Uchiha into custody. But she remained firm. Tsunade knew his teammates had left him in order to rescue that Suna girl who had been in the cell with her, and instead of all three of them running off, he attempted to cover their asses and lied about them ever leaving.

He might not be as involved as Haruno and Uzumaki were, but he was in the mix somehow. One way or another she was going to get her answers. She believed Uchiha was the ticket. He would crack first and then they would have ammunition to use against the other two. He wouldn’t be as attached to whatever secret his teammates were hiding, so he would be the first to give it up.

An ANBU flashed before her. “We’re ready, Hokage-sama.”

“Right.” She slung on her green haori bearing the kanji for gamble on its back, unable to not think about the huge gamble she was taking. “Let’s get this over with.”


	16. Chapter 15

Sasuke’s head throbbed something awful when he woke. The pain was so intense it hurt to think. For a second, he thought Naruto hit him too hard during a spar. Whenever the two of them were paired together, it was inevitable that both of them would wind up suffering from some pretty serious injuries. They were rather lucky in that regard that Sakura knew medical ninjutsu. Otherwise, they’d spend just as much, if not more, time in the hospital as they did training.

That was what was wrong with this situation. Sasuke didn’t feeling the gentle, cool, and soothing sensation he associated with Sakura’s chakra whenever she was healing him.

Sakura! Concern for his teammate shot through him like a tidal wave. What had happened to her? Did the ANBU get her? And him as well? Why had they ambushed two teenagers?

What happened before they were taken?

The recent conversation shot to the forefront of his mind. Sakura had told him about the true reasoning behind the Uchiha Massacre and his own part in bringing about the end of the world, which including his complete and utter annihilation of the village. Sasuke quickly put a halt to those thoughts. The lengths he would go to in the future and the actions he had taken and the decisions he had made terrified him.

None more so than the idea that it was he that would be responsible for Naruto’s death. He didn’t know when, but somewhere between their battle on the bridge and their mission to protect Koyuki Kazahana, Sasuke had come to view Naruto as invincible. His image of Naruto was only cemented when he learned about the blonde’s original timeline. Despite be knocked down so many times by opponents ten years out of his league, the dobe would crawl up and keep fighting until he was victorious.

And it wasn’t thanks to the Kyuubi. The beast might have sped up his healing rate to a ridiculous and level unmatchable by anyone other than Tsunade with her Creation Rebirth technique, but it was Naruto’s own will and determination that kept him going. As long as Naruto was fighting for one of his precious people, he might as well have been invincible.

Sasuke didn’t have time to waste moaning about how his head hurt. He needed to know what happened to Sakura. He had to find her.

The dark haired boy shot up into a half-sitting, half-reclining position before the unbearable pain registered. He wondered if this was what a Chidori felt like, as if every part of his body, down to the individual cells, was burning. It was almost enough to make him not want to his favorite jutsu all the time. Almost.

He drew in a measured breath and released it after a count of seven, concentration solely focused on inhaling and exhaling. Meditation always made it easier for him to think. Physically, Sasuke knew there was nothing wrong with him. Aside from the fact that lava must be coursing through his veins, he was completely uninjured. Not a scratch or even a bruise to be seen.

Sasuke breathed in deeply. If the pain wasn’t physical, it had to be mental. Which meant it was a . . .

* * *

Tsunade, along with Ibiki and one of his underlings, observed Sasuke from a one-way window. Tonbo Tobitake was chosen to assist with this interrogation specifically because the upper half of his face was completely wrapped in bandages and his forehead protector was drawn down all the way over his eyes.  She knew the brat had already unlocked his Sharingan but didn’t know how skilled he was using it.

However, she wouldn’t take any risks. Tonbo would maintain the genjutsu, and should Ibiki require the chuunin to step inside, the Uchiha would not be able to ensare him with his hypnotic eyes.

“Genjustu.” He whispered, disdaining. Like he had expected more of them. As much as she disliked it, Tsunade was expecting more of Ibiki as well. But he had assured her that Tonbo’s genjutsu would have the boy begging to spill his secrets.

Tsunade clenched her fist. The boy had a higher tolerance for pain than she anticipated. It wasn’t unsurprising. She had read his profile, his psych evaluations after the massacre. Whatever Itachi had done to him was probably worse than Tobitake’s genjutsu. The chuunin was talented, but he was no match for a prodigy like Itachi Uchiha.

Still, she hadn’t expected he would discover the trick so soon. He was supposed to be unable to think about anything other than the excruciating pain he was feeling.

Next to her, Ibiki was smiling. One thing she had learned, it unsettled prisoners when they thought their torturer truly enjoyed inflicting pain. She also thought he took perverse pleasure in cracking the tough ones wide open. He was infamous throughout the Elemental Nations for his skill set. He believed with his very essence that pain was an effective form of communication. Morino was a master of interrogation both physically and psychologically. He had the ability to subject people to great suffering without ever using physical torture. He also had complete knowledge of human psychology; by attacking a person's mind, he could gain control over their spirit.

Calling in the head of Konoha’s Torture and Interrogation force was like calling the Sannin, when they were still a team, in for a mission. The man was usually a last resort, except in the case of high priority prisoners.

The Fifth Hokage felt the current situation justified his involvement. Team Seven was a security risk. How could she entrust higher ranked missions to a team that felt no remorse for jumping ship when they wanted to?  Nobody would get her answers faster than Ibiki.

“Looks like you’re up,” she said grimly, frown marring the youthful look she wore.

Ibiki’s answer was to slip into the Uchiha’s cell. Tsunade’s frown deepened. It went against all her morals, as both a medic and a human being, to sic the master interrogator on a young boy. Especially on that had been previously traumatized.

But, she reminded herself, she had to look after her people. She was the Hokage now. It was her duty to protect her own from threats inside and outside the village’s walls.

It was little consolation for her.

She watched as Ibiki entered, smoothly gliding across the tiny room, very much reminding Tsunade of the way a predator stalked its prey before it pounced. The scarred man towered over the boy, who had shifted to sit upright on the bed, but with shoulders hunched and neck bowed.

“Do you believe that someone could commit a heinous act for a good reason?”

The only female Legendary Sannin wanted nothing more than a bottle or five of sake. Just who was running this interrogation? The brat seemed to be treating it like a visit to the psychiatrist if his question was anything to go by, and Ibiki was visibly amused by the Uchiha’s audacity.

“Is that what you think I’m doing? Don’t tell me you doubt your choice of career. What happened to getting vengeance for your clan’s deaths?” Tsunade flinched at the barb. Ibiki was aiming for the kill from the beginning.

The brat didn’t react like expected. There was no flying off the handle as he swore to stop at nothing to kill his brother. He didn’t even lift his head.

“That’s the life of a ninja,” Ibiki continued. “I’m surprised you made chuunin with that wishy-washy constitution. If you’re not prepared to do the unthinkable in the name of your village, you’re not fit to be a shinobi.”

“I see.”

Tsunade observed, speechless. It was a short conversation, but she couldn’t help but feel that Sasuke was getting more answers than Ibiki was. Just why had the brat asked that question? Did he worry about what his teammates were planning? Was he hoping to assuage his guilty conscience?

Maybe she should make that a crate of sake. Surely Shizune would understand?

* * *

Sasuke was acutely aware of the way his former exam proctor loomed over him. He was surprised to see Ibiki, to be honest. He had thought it would be a Yamanaka for sure. Why waste time questioning him personally when they could have someone from the Yamanaka clan enter his mind and discern the truth for themselves? After all, memories couldn’t lie.

Idly, he wondered how long he would last before he told Ibiki that five people had somehow miraculously traveled through time to prevent the world from going to ruins. Would they even believe him?

Sasuke wouldn’t have believed Naruto if he didn’t know the dobe was incapable of lying. Although that might have changed in the future, he just didn’t think the blonde had it in him to lie.

His mind drifted.  A million different thoughts were flying through his head. What was he supposed to do in this situation? He recalled that this wouldn’t be Sakura’s first time being questioned. How had she handled it? How did the rosette manage to keep her secret?

And, unbidden, would they forgive him if he was the one to reveal their hard kept secret?

“Why don’t you make this easy on yourself? Tell me what really happened on your mission and you’ll be free to leave,” came Ibiki’s offer.

“That’s what mission reports are for,” the teen drawled. “I’m sure the Godaime would hand it over if you asked nicely.” It was snarky, but hopefully it would distract the older man. Maybe Sasuke could get away with some half-truths and truths mixed in with lies.

Because there was one thing the black haired boy was sure of. He wasn’t going to betray the trust Sakura and Naruto had put in him. Not after everything they had done to save him from giving in to the beast within him. Not after Sakura revealed that Itachi was still his aniki and was protecting him, going as far as planning to die to make him happy. Not when Naruto was going to bring his brother back.

Ibiki’s pleasant smile had crept Sasuke out, but it was better than the sadistic one that took its place. The uplift curl to his lips only made the skin on his face stretch, making the two long scars on his face more prominent.  “Resistance is futile. You’ll tell me what I want to know. The only thing that’s going to change is how much pain you’ll put yourself through before you surrender. How long do you think you’ll last, hm?”

Sasuke leaned away from the hand that reached out to stroke his face. He had seen all of the man’s scars during the written exam Ibiki had administered. He imagined how tough that had made him. Marveled out how he didn’t break even though they were drilling holes in his head. Even admired his unwavering loyalty.

Seeing the mess that was his skull had provided the Uchiha was a certain image of the master interrogator. A man that was tough as nails. One that understood that pain was the world’s greatest motivator and one that wouldn’t hesitate to inflict it to achieve his goal.

But Morino was acting nothing like he expected. Aside from the weak genjutsu, and the stabbing pain was only a memory now, Sasuke hadn’t been hurt. He didn’t know what kind of games Ibiki was playing, but he would prefer it if he brought out the thumbscrews. At least then Sasuke would know how he was supposed to react.

“An hour? Maybe two?” Sasuke retreated until his back was against the wall behind his cot-like bed. The older man continued his approach, still speaking in his soft, gravely but powerful voice. “Definitely not more than that. You can’t protect your teammates. If you don’t tell me what I want, I’ll have to try one of them.”

“Shut up!” he snarled. His chakra, which he was only just realizing was unresponsive before now, was pulsing. When he looked up to glare at Ibiki, his Kekkei Genkai had been activated. His Sharingan clashed with emotionless black eyes.

“Don’t you dare touch Naruto or Sakura!”

Amusement made Morino’s face light up. Sasuke thought joy was one expression that didn’t belong on the heavily scarred man’s face. “That’s the pink haired one’s name? How long do you think she last before the pain becomes too much? Twenty minutes?”

* * *

Tsunade observed the interrogation with no small amount of anxiousness. Ibiki was wasting no time, and while that was what she had wanted of him, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy with his tactics. The blonde had never seen an Uchiha so rattled. 

Ibiki had complete control and the boy didn’t know it. He might have thought he stood a chance, but it was foolishness on his part. Ibiki was the head of the Torture and Interrogation Force for a reason. He was _good_ at it. Unparalleled good. No one could match him.

And no one stood a chance against him. They all fell victim to his games.

Pushing their buttons, provoking emotions was how Ibiki worked. He needled and taunted until his prisoner lost control of their emotions and started reacting to him instead of acting for him. Then he would pounce. Before they knew it, Ibiki had learned everything he needed to know from them.

Usually, Konoha’s most fearsome interrogator could deftly pinpoint the triggers that would have his victim singing like a canary and avoid those that would only serve to make his victim confident in their ability to withstand his questioning.

Ibiki must have been working under the assumption that the Uchiha brat was still obsessing over his clan’s murder at his brother’s hand to the point of self-destruction and could care less for the other two gennin that made up Team Seven. The man had clearly not read the file. Otherwise he would have known that Sasuke had put himself and his goal on the line to cover his teammates’ asses.

Ibiki probably figure, considering the boy’s anti-social attitude, that attacking his teammates was a safe button to push. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

To be fair, Tsunade knew part of the blame was on her shoulders. It was her that misread the situation. Sasuke was just as vested in this secret. Although she never imagined he would come to care for his teammates. The boy was every inch one of Kakashi’s students. He was willing to suffer to protect his two teammates.

Perhaps she should force Kakashi to take on more gennin teams. If his preaching could change an Uchiha, there wasn’t anyone it wouldn’t work on.

Then everything went to hell when Ibiki brought up his female teammate.

Previously he had been shaking. Fear or fury, the Fifth Hokage didn’t care. Ibiki had had him on the defensive. If the boy had been a porcupine she probably would have seen the quills standing on edge.

Then he suddenly tensed. Every muscle in his body stiffened and the kid might as well have been a statue.

That’s when it happened. The thrice-damned Cursed Seal Orochimaru had given him went haywire. Purple chakra violently spread out in every direction with the boy writhing in the center. The inky black marks that crawled across his skin also emitted a faint orange glow. Tsunade was separated by a chakra enforced wall, not getting the brunt of it like Ibiki was, and she could feel the malevolence. It was slimy and sinister. Very befitting of a man that resembled the beasts he summoned.

It didn’t stop there. The flame shaped marks continued to spread until his whole body was covered by them. The Uchiha arched his back, mouth open in a silent scream. It looked like it was mutating to Tsunade. His skin turned dark grey with a black four-point star-mark between his eyes and across the bridge of his nose. His hair extended until it was waist length and practically as spiky as Jiraiya’s.

The raging chakra calmed, dissipating like it had never existed. If not for the effect it had had on the brat, Tsunade would have thought it a horrible hallucination brought on by drinking too much sake.

“Interesting,” chuckled Ibiki. He appeared wholly unaffected by the disturbing scene he had just born witness to. “A nice parlor trick, but it won’t stop me.”

Tsunade felt faint. Her one time teammate was one of the Legendary Sannin. She, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were hailed as the greatest shinobi of their time. Orochimaru was her generation’s prodigy. Whatever the purpose of the Cursed Seal, it was not a parlor trick

And Tsunade’s fears were realized not even ten seconds later when the boy lifted his head. Black and yellow eyes, blue lips, grey skin, and that demented grin left her no doubt. It was no longer Sasuke Uchiha in that cell. The cell had taken control, leaving a monster in his place.

His grin became feral. The room was filled with the sound skin ripping open. Blood flew, splattering against the hidden window the female Hokage was watching morbidly, horrified by what she saw but unable to turn away. Her vision narrowed in on the red liquid slowly sliding down the viewing window.

Her hemophobia was so paralyzing that she didn’t notice the Uchiha had sprouted a pair of monstrous wings from his back. Large hand shaped wings with webbing that easily allowed him to lift off the ground. Then he moved at a speed Lee could only hope to achieve one day and plowed Ibiki through the wall with a single clawed hand.

When Tsunade found the strength to move, the Torture and Interrogation tower was in an uproar. Chuunin and jounin dressed in the standard uniform of a grey button-up suit with pockets and lapels were running back and forth frantically. The Uchiha had left a very distinct trail of destruction behind him.

And she would bet everything she owned that she knew exactly where he was going.

What Tsunade wouldn’t give to lose a bet for once.

* * *

For someone in a situation out of his control, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was remarkably calm. If one were to look at him propped up against wall next to the bars of his cell, they might think he was unperturbed.

He wasn’t restless or perspiring. He didn’t pace, bite his nails, or retreat into a corner to huddle in on himself. He didn’t jump at every sound, afraid that Ibiki would pop out of the wall next to him and drag him off.

Naruto wasn’t showing it, but he was worried. Everything had spiraled out of control so fast. Maybe it had been naïve of him, but the he honestly believed if they dealt with Orochimaru early the fate of the world would change. Then Sasuke wound up getting bitten by that bastard Kabuto instead, Temari got abducted, their secret was no longer between the five of them, Baa-chan was suspicious, and he was in the heart of the last place he wanted to be.

The blonde was usually one for rolling with the punches. He excelled at it. Improvising was one of his strengths. But his current predicament was so far out of his hands.

It would be all too easy for Naruto to free himself from his cell. But, for the same reason he hadn’t removed Sasuke’s Cursed Seal in the forest, Naruto couldn’t break out. Shikamaru had warned him that all three of them surviving a meeting with the Snake Sannin unscathed would draw unwanted attention to them. There were too many people who knew Orochimaru and would have known why he was there, Anko being one of them. She and the Sandaime Hokage would have expected Orochimaru to bestow the Cursed Seal upon Sasuke, so Naruto wasn’t allowed to tinker with it in any way.

Despite knowing that his strategist’s logic was sound and was responsible for the three of them passing under the radar until know, Naruto wanted to break all of them out.

But he couldn’t do that. Doing so would only give him the illusion of control. A jailbreak would only see him and Sakura and Sasuke (the blonde wasn’t going to leave him behind this time) on the run. He would just have to wait until he was released. Kurama would ensure that any memories related to the future were untouchable, and Inner Sakura would do the same for her.

Sasuke, even without have a demon or second personality to protect him, would be safe. Naruto hadn’t told him enough to incriminate him. Without actually having memories of the war they lived through, Sasuke’s words would be nothing more than a story.

Seeing as how that story came directly from Naruto, the attention would switch to him. Any way Baa-chan looked at it, she would find nothing. Eventually, she would have to release them. If for no other reason than Kakashi-sensei would raise hell.

He leaned his neck back so that his head was supported by the smooth stone wall that separated him from Sakura. “You doing alright over there?”

“I’m fine, Naruto.” She answered. “Bored, though. It’s been hours since I’ve so much as seen one of Ibiki’s minions. Don’t suppose you could do anything about that?”

Sakura was well aware that he could but wouldn’t. But that wasn’t why she had asked. What she wanted was to take his mind off his worries. It worked. Soon enough they were both laughing as they spun nonsensical stories about what a tower of interrogators would be so busy with that they didn’t have time for them.

It was Naruto’s turn when the explosion sounded. He leapt to his feet and knew without being able to see her that Sakura had done the same. There was a heartbeat of silence. Then the sounds of destruction picked up again. The tower was shaking and he could hear people screaming.

It wasn’t long before shinobi were sprinting down the line of cells, shouting instructions and generally acting like chickens that had lost their heads. To Naruto, it seemed to be an age before Tsunade stood before his cell.

His grip on the bars was so strong he could fell them compressing. “What’s going on? What the hell was the explosion? Where’s Sasuke?”

Amber eyes sharpened. “Your friend has transformed into some kind of monster.”

Naruto’s heart dropped to his stomach. Why would Sasuke have entered the second stage? In the aftermath of the invasion, Sasuke had said he didn’t want to use the seal’s power. Why would he use it now?

“He would never!” Sakura defended.

He could only draw one conclusion. “What do you do to him?” he snarled. The whisker marks across his cheeks thickened.

His predecessor shrugged cavalierly. The iron bars beneath his hands creaked.

“We didn’t do a damn thing. Interrogation barely started before the brat went berserk. I don’t have any clue what he thinks he’s going to accomplishing by storming around and putting holes in the wall. Nor do I care.” Naruto opened his mouth to rant about what kind of Hokage was she if she didn’t care about one of her shinobi, but the woman didn’t give him pause to speak.

“What I do know,” Tsunade hissed, voice sounding positively predatory, “is you two brats, and that Nara one too, have some manner of tracking down wayward shinobi quickly. And if you don’t want him added to the missing nin’s list, you’re going to do just that.

“If he’s not back here in twenty-four hours, I’m going to have him exterminated.”

Naruto’s hands clenched, shattering the metal in their hold. Pieces of iron dug into his palms, but he didn’t care. The blood dripped in silence as he and Sakura took in the woman’s threat.

The pinkette objected loudly. “You can’t do that! It’s not right!” she insisted.

Tsunade’s head turned sideways to glare at the young girl that presumed to tell her what she could and could not do. “I think you’ll find that, as Hokage, there’s not much I can’t do.”

Sheer, unadulterated rage flooded Naruto’s mind. Had he changed her completely when he refused to give up on their bet? Confronting Kabuto with the Rasengan she swore he could never master? Even then she had ridiculed his dream to be Hokage, but this Tsunade was spitting on everything the hat stood for.

The Will of Fire. Loving, believing in, cherishing, and fighting to protect the village, as previous generations had done before them. The hopes and dreams of the next generation. How could she have agreed to become the Fifth Hokage without that philosophy in her heart and soul?

“You’re . . . the worst.”

A bug could have crawled across the floor and all three of them would have heard it.

“What did you say, brat?”

“You don’t deserve to be called Hokage.” Naruto said in the same flat tone he had delivered his admonishment of her character. Tsunade bristled at the boy’s nerve. What right did he have to say that? What did he know about being Hokage? He was only twelve.

“Fine. You want us to bring Sasuke back? Fine. That won’t be a problem.” The Rokudaime Hokage bit down on his thumb, using it as a substitute for ink to write a seal over the door’s lock. There was a slight hiss and faint wisps of smoke as the boy literally melted the lock off and strode out.

Naruto released the pink haired girl from her cell in the same manner. “Find Shikamaru. We’ll meet at the gate.”

Sakura nodded, face serious.

It didn’t even cross Tsunade’s mind to call after them as they walked away, backs straight with pride and determination. The two of them seemed so large and untouchable. She didn’t see a pair of unexperienced chuunin walking away from her.

No, the vision before her was of two hardened warriors who fought to get inside hell and again to get back out.

And even though the three of them didn’t match their files at all, Tsunade no longer believed them to be imposters. The emotions she saw in Naruto’s cerulean eyes could not be faked.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura split up once back on street level. The boy was gone in a blur of orange, racing to his apartment so he could contact Temari and Gaara. Sakura raised her eyes to survey the sky; her first thought being that the sun was too damn bright.

She noted the sun’s position, guessing that it was a little after noon. Shikamaru was usually training with his team at this time. Sakura practically flew in the direction of the training grounds Team Ino-Shika-Cho had claimed as theirs.

Sure enough, the Nara was in the middle of training with his team. If training could be defined as him pretending to sleep under the shade of a tree while Ino improved her reflexes by dodging a human boulder.

Sakura came to a halt beside his head and he cracked an eye open to give her a lazy look. One that promptly vanished when he caught sight of her we’re-in-deep-shit expression.

“Forehead!” the Yamanaka heiress shrieked. “What are you doing here? We’re in the middle of practice!”

Sakura ignored the girl who had once been her best friend. She faced their sensei, bowing politely. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Asuma-sensei, but the Hokage asked me to find Shikamaru.”

She made her eyes a little larger so the light would reflect off them. Combined with the apologetic smile, she was the picture of innocence. The jounin told Shikamaru that he was excused and the genius followed Sakura back to Konoha’s main street.

“What’s really going on?” the genius asked once they hit the rooftops.

“Sasuke’s entered stage two and gone AWOL. Tsunade threatened to have him killed if we didn’t bring him back within a day,” she said curtly. Shikamaru pulled a face, understanding without her having to say explicitly how heavy a blow that was. Just the idea that it could all fall apart after they had succeeded was heart wrenching.

“Hokage-sama said he’d meet us at the gates. Anything you need to grab?” Sakura threw back at him.

The brunet shook his head. Sakura was unsurprised. Ever since they had come back, the three of them always carried anything they might need in storage scrolls. Unpreparedness was one of the deciding factors of the war.

They had been entirely unprepared to fight a war on Madara’s level. The main attacked the Five Great Shinobi Nations without warning, dealing massive damage. They never really recovered from the start of the war. They scrambled to mount a defense and put together an offense.

Konoha had been days away from getting crushed. Their attempts had failed spectacularly. Madara had fallen from his pedestal because of his own arrogance. After so many missions to kill him had ended with every ninja’s head sent on that mission returned to their village, he had fancied himself some unbeatable god.

It was still a mystery as to who had dealt the killing blow. None of the villages left standing claimed the act, though most believed it to have been Konoha’s doing. Sakura favored a different idea; Sasuke.

Of course, even if her guess was right, Sasuke had razed Konoha to the ground not even four days later, so she hadn’t felt particularly grateful to him for singlehandedly ending the war.

Naruto, in what had come to be called his Hokage mode amongst the five time travelers, was waiting for them at the base of Konoha’s south gate. Heading south and then east was the best way for them to get to Suna. It wasn’t the fastest, but it was the safest. Sprinting a straight line from Konoha to Suna would put one of Akatsuki’s bases directly in their path.

“Contrary to popular belief,” he started. “I don’t have any way to track Sasuke. We’re going to head to Suna. Gaara and Temari have been looking for Orochimaru’s old bases. Chances are, Kabuto’s hiding in one of them and that’s where we’ll find Sasuke.”

His co-conspirators nodded their assent, so Naruto gave the order to move out. Even going out of the way to accommodate a potential Akatsuki base, the trip wouldn’t take more than nine hours. Eight if they pushed themselves.

“Let’s go, then. Clock’s ticking. Time to go rescue Sasuke.”


	17. Chapter 16

**12 hours previously**

“I thought I’d find you up here.”

The red head’s eyes, which had been locked on the small but brilliantly shining stars, slid over to the right to look at his sister.

Temari looked down at him with amusement. It was not the first time she had found him enraptured with the night sky. She never asked what had started his fascination with star gazing. Maybe she assumed it was a left over habit from childhood, when darkness and the stars were his only companions through years of sleepless nights.

She wouldn’t have been wrong in thinking that, but that wasn’t all to it. Then, Gaara hated the stars. They were too bright, too distant. Seeing the sky fill up with them every night only reminded the young boy how alone and hated he was.

It was a time in his life that the future Kazekage wasn’t proud of. He was embittered. Fueled only by hatred and caring for no one but himself. He was a monster, feared by the entire village. Children ran when they saw him and adults whispered as he walked by, uncaring that he could hear their harsh words calling for his death.

Even though Gaara had gained control over Shukaku since returning to the past and could sleep peacefully, he still went up on the roof every night, laid back using his gourd for support, and simply lost himself in the vastness of the night sky and the stars.

He would think about everything and nothing. The good and the bad.

The stars were a reminder that they had done what was believed to be impossible, traveling back through time with the intent to change the future. He’d remember pausing in his work to admire them from his office, and nights where Sakura was wrapped in his arms and the war seemed like a distant past because it was just the two of them and the stars that littered the sky.

Gaara in no way regretted the decision. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. A second chance. The future had been bleak. What shinobi that had survived the war with Madara were killed when the Uchiha waged war against the world.

But he never imagined being back would be so hard. He wasn’t tormented by memories of the past but of the future. Gaara had thought he could deal with Suna’s fear and hatred. He had lived through it once; certainly he could do it again? But it was hard to ignore them. He wished for his village, the one filled with people whose respect and love he had earned. The one that followed him into a war to protect the first friend he had ever made.

Walking through Suna’s sandy streets, watching as civilian and ninja alike flinched from him like they were expecting his sand to lash out, was disheartening and discouraging.

Even now, after two months without a single death, the villagers still looked at him in fear. If he wasn’t wrong, they actually feared him more now than when he threatened and killed indiscriminately. They watched him with fearful, wary eyes, waiting for him to lose control, unleash his Bijuu, and slaughter every person in Suna.

The red head was ever so grateful that he was not alone. If he had not had Temari at his side, Gaara believed he would have gone insane, regressing back to the twelve year old monster the village viewed him as.

It was amazing how one person made such a difference.

With a huff, Temari slouched beside him on the rooftop. Gaara waited patiently for her to say her piece, knowing that she had come looking for him for a reason. Generally, she left him to have his alone time.

“Why do you keep looking at them?” she asked, genuinely curious. “They don’t change. Those are the same stars we see in ten years.”

Gaara’s jade eyes turned skyward. “No,” he said softly, “they’re brighter.”

“Brighter, huh?” Temari understood that he was not talking about how brightly the stars themselves shone. To him, they represented the future, which they were changing to a better, brighter one. She laid back, head pillowed on her arms. “So much has happened already. Can you believe how much has changed in such a short time?”

Gaara didn’t answer. It was a rhetorical question and they both knew it. From the moment they stepped foot in Konoha all their plans had been dashed with holes large enough to fit one of Naruto’s larger toad summons through. With every change they successfully made, a dozen changes they didn’t anticipate occurred and they were left scrambling to regain control. The Uchiha was still given the Cursed Seal despite their best efforts, which included killing the Sannin that had created the seal. Temari had been taken captive only a few days past.

There were so many unexpected events they had to deal with that never happened originally. But, as ninja were trained to, they adapted quickly.

“Do you think we’ll succeed?”

Gaara rolled on his side to fully face his oldest sibling. The blonde still gave off the image off a kunoichi confident in her skills and hardened by growing up in a village hidden in sand. Ever since the Third Shinobi War, the Wind Daimyō began outsourcing missions to Konoha, leading to a lack of funding for Sunagakure. It made for living in Suna difficult. The number of ninjas in their ranks dropped to an all-time low. Only the strongest and most ruthless managed to complete the types of missions Suna started taking.

Temari had never agreed with their father’s plan to attack Konoha. Her dismissive and vindictive façade hid a girl that wanted nothing more than peace.

She still appeared as confident and self-assured as ever, but her tone betrayed her insecurity.

“I can’t make any promises, Temari. We understood there were risks we when made this choice. Maybe we’ll succeed. Maybe we won’t. But the possibility of a future without war is one worth fighting for.”

“But can we make those kinds of changes?” she persisted. “We’re just five teenagers now. Can we really change the fate of the world?”

Gaara sat up, forcing her to do the same, looking her straight in the eye. “You and I know better than anyone that even one person can make all the difference. I used to be a monster that proved my right to live by killing others. I was the last person Suna would have wanted as their Kazekage. Then I met Naruto.”

Both siblings smiled at mention of the blond. Temari with fondness and gratefulness. She had always loved her little brother, but he was also the one person that she had feared. Then Naruto, bright, loud, friendly Naruto, had come along and proved that being a Jinchuuriki didn’t mean he couldn’t let anyone in his heart. He had shown Gaara that shared bonds made them stronger.

Gaara’s smile spoke of admiration and a deep understanding. As another Jinchuuriki, he understood the loneliness Naruto had lived with, for it was the same pain he had felt. But the blond hadn’t let that loneliness cripple him. Naruto had been the catalyst behind his changed outlook on life, behind him becoming a better man. One that could wear the title Kazekage with pride and defend his village and its people with his life.

Naruto had saved him from himself. There wasn’t anything Gaara wouldn’t do for his first friend.

“Naruto believes in us. And I believe in him. If his ability to change people worked on someone like myself, it will work on Sasuke.”

“I didn’t say anything about that brat,” Temari said mulishly.

“But that’s what you meant. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but Sasuke is the lynchpin; the deciding factor. If he sides with Madara again, all this would have been for naught.”

The kunoichi sighed unhappily. “I know, I know. I may agree, but that doesn’t mean I like him.  It’s just unbelievable that whether or not the whole world burns is up to that Uchiha. Without those Sharingan eyes of his he’s nobody special.”

Gaara didn’t refute her words. The Uchiha had an overinflated sense of self-worth and the ego to match it. He was talented and a genius when it came to modifying jutsu and overcoming adversity. And, with no one to teach him how to use the unique abilities of his Sharingan, he had mastered it in a short time.

But all the talent in the world did not excuse the chip he carried on his shoulder or justify his destroying the world one village at a time. Nine Jinchuuriki, seven of which had lives just as miserable, did not seek vengeance on the village that wronged them.

Temari clambered to her feet in a rustle of cloth. “Don’t stay up here all night. We’re heading out early for Ishigakure.”

Gaara hummed acknowledgement as his sister leapt nimbly off the roof. Ever since the Chuunin exams, he and Temari took it upon themselves to hunt down the bases Orochimaru had operated in. Kabuto had presumably taken them over after his master’s death.

Naruto, Sakura, and even Shikamaru were working on changing Sasuke’s mind so that he would realize he was stronger with friends at his side and that together they could deal with the men responsible for his suffering. Temari, ever impatient, wanted a quicker and more direct solution. So she had suggested they hunt down Kabuto and gut him, because if the creator of the seal died, its power would break and Sasuke would be less of a risk.

Gaara gave one last look at the twinkling stars before he too turned in for the night. He was glad for the fact that he had better control of Shukaku. He very much enjoyed being able to sleep through the night untroubled by the beast’s violent, manic demands for blood and death.

* * *

Brother and sister set out before the sun rose, wanting to travel the majority of the distance to the outskirts of the Village Hidden in Rocks before the sun got too high and the desert heat became sweltering. As Suna shinobi, they were used to the extreme temperatures and dry heat, but that didn’t mean they liked traveling in them.

By ten in the morning they had reached the borders of Ishigakure. They spent the next to scouring the land for the underground base.

Temari grinned savagely as she unfurled her giant folding war fan and released her most destructive wind jutsus to ravage the base. Gaara remained expressionless as his sand ground the supporting rocks to dust, leaving the foundation weak.

Temari watched with satisfaction as the structure crumbled. It was another on a growing list of abandoned hideouts, and while it was irksome and frustrating that they had yet to find the traitorous bastard, but it was one more place the coward wasn't hiding. It wouldn't be long until they found Kabuto.

“Best that we be heading back,” she said, before noticing the communication scroll in her brother’s hand. “What Naruto say?” she peered over his shoulder in order to read it for herself. Gaara was prone to leaving out the juicy details.

_Something’s wrong with Sasuke’s seal. He’s entered second stage unexplainably and is heading somewhere to the east. Tsunade says we have twenty-four hours to return him or she’ll have him killed._

“Huh,” remarked Temari, surprised at the other Kage’s brutality. “That’s shorter than your messages.” Gaara favored her with a look of exasperation. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go find the pretty boy.”

“Our next target is the hideout in Kusagakure. It’s slightly northeast of Konoha so let’s start there,” Gaara suggested.

“Lead the way, little brother.”

This time they did not travel by foot. While it was very likely that they would encounter Kabuto when they found Sasuke, time was of the essence and they could not afford to conserve chakra and arrive too late to do anything.

* * *

**21 hours 29 minutes remaining**

The trio of time travelers from Konoha raced through the forests, thankful for the countless hours of condition they had gone through since returning. Their insanely fast pace would have been grueling for the normal shinobi. But, with the clock ticking, they had to move fast.

They had shot directly due east and within the next hour they would arrive at the border of the Land of Fire. Another hour and a half and they’d met up with Gaara and Temari in Ishigakure and make a game plan from there.

“Hokage-sama. Hokage-sama! Naruto!” Shikamaru’s shouting finally gained the other boy’s attention.

“What?” he snapped.

“I understand your urgency,” the Nara started calmly, “but you cannot go running after Sasuke blindly. Beyond knowing that he set off in this direction initially, we don’t know where he’s going or what his plans are. You need to take a step back, clear you mind, and we need to make a plan.”

Naruto breathed heavily. He knew running in unprepared was foolish. But all he could think about was how Sasuke was faring. He was probably confused and frightened and scared out of his mind by his lack of control. How could he not rush to his friend’s aid? “And what are you suggesting?”

“Use sage mode to locate him,” the genius replied succinctly. Both Naruto and Sakura blinked at the frank response.

“I know you haven’t had a chance to practice it yet, but you’ve done it once before. You’re more prepared for it this time.” Shikamaru continued to outline the reasons why the blond should go ahead and activate his sage mode. “You’ll be able to sense his chakra instantly and knowing his trajectory. Knowing where he’s going is going to save us time in the long run.”

Naruto shook his head strongly. “There are too many risks. It’s an impossibility on my own. The absolute stillness required, the mental focus, and the control. I struggled with it at fifteen when I had way less chakra. I needed the toad oil to facilitate the process.”

“In order to get the feel for drawing in natural energy. You already know what natural energy feels like and how to draw it into yourself,” countered Shikamaru.

The future Rokudaime continued as if the other male had spoken. “I wouldn’t have Fukasaku to keep from turning into a giant stone toad statue. And because of Kurama, I can’t fuse with him and have him gather the natural energy for me like Pervy-Sage did.”

“You know I’m always willing to punch you, Naruto,” Sakura offered sweetly.

Naruto cringed, remembering all too well the many times the rosette had hit him. He knew she was serious about her offer though.

“I—alright, fine,” he gave in with a grumble. “You had better hope that special staff wasn’t all that special. Because if I turn into a toad statue, I’m going to flatten you both.”

Sakura and Shikamaru dug their heels into the terrain. The pinkette took up position by Naruto who had already sat himself cross-legged on the ground. She kept her fist raised and ready should Naruto’s face start taking on the characteristics of an amphibian.

Naruto closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, mentally telling Sasuke that he had better appreciate the things he did for him.

It was easy to slip into the meditative state he needed to draw on natural energy. Actually doing so was not so easy. Naruto found himself hesitating. To his shock, he was scared to attempt this. And that made him angry.

He hardly ever found himself in a situation where he was scared. Or at least, scared enough to not act. There was always something to drive him to overcome that fear. But how could he do that here? This wasn’t just the fear of being beaten or not being strong enough or losing one of his precious people. He could legitimately die he attempted to draw on the natural chakra unprepared and unassisted by Fukasaku.

Disgust filled him. He had never been afraid to die before. His fears involved failing others and not keeping his promises. Naruto had been willing to die, shouldering Sasuke’s hatred for the world, if it meant that he was no longer burdened by it.

So why was he so afraid of it now?

Naruto startled when Sakura’s light touch gripped his shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked concernedly.

He insisted that he was and settled into his meditative state, shoving the fear into some dark corner of his mind. He hadn’t let fear stop him before, and with Sasuke in danger he wasn’t going to start giving into it now.

With a calm mind, it was easy to draw on the natural chakra, like he had been doing so for years. A content smile formed as he sensed the chakra signatures of his friends back in Konoha and as far as Temari and Gaara in Ishigakure. His reach sure had expanded.

Sasuke’s was easy to find than Kakashi when the newest Icha Icha book was released. His normally bright chakra was dark purple, twisting and churning.

He opened his eyes, anxious to get moving again, in time to see a dainty gloved fist hit him in the side of his head.

“Sakura! What was that for?” He brought his hands up to the already fading bruise. Thank the Sage for Kurama’s regenerative ability.

Said girl shrugged casually. “I thought I saw your nose get bulbous and warty,” she said offhandedly.

Naruto gaped at her blasé attitude, sharing a look with Shikamaru as he muttered about how weird women were.

Tension gone, as she intended, Sakura watched as Naruto’s demeanor became determined.

“Kusagakure. That’s where he’s heading. Kusagakure.”

Sakura groaned. “It would be that base.”

“At least we know exactly where we’re going. Let’s move out!” The last three words were shouted encouragingly.

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” chorused Shikamaru and Sakura, and the three were flying through the trees again, path shifting to aim a little more to the north.

* * *

**20 hours and 47 minutes remaining**

Gaara’s hand was unrolling the communication scroll seconds after it warmed, alerting him that Naruto had written an update. Jade colored eyes scanned it quickly.

“Well?” Temari asked when he didn’t immediately inform her of what Naruto had said. “What’s it say? Did they catch him already?”

“It’s confirmation. Naruto entered sage mode to track the Uchiha. He’s heading for the base in Grass Country.”

“So we’ll get there first. It’s going to be two on two, presumably. Do you want to see how you match up against the Uchiha?” she mused, referencing their first time taking the Chuunin exams and his interrupted match.

Gaara stared at her stonily. “This is no joking matter, Temari. We have never fought the Uchiha in this form and do not know what he is capable of. He’ll be even more predictable since he is not acting of his own free will, but of Yakushi’s. And Kabuto is no pushover.”

The blonde rolled her eyes at the reprimand. A little light hearted teasing didn’t mean she wasn’t taking the Sasuke’s turned into a mindless puppet situation seriously. Laughter was good for the soul. She definitely felt they could use some at this point.

Silence descended, but Temari was content to leave it at that. She knew the future Kazekage was stressing over the upcoming confrontation. Gaara had always carried a healthy disdain for the Uchiha brat even before he had abandon his village and comrades to join Orochimaru. That contempt had morphed into loathing for the pain he had caused Naruto. After the blond has opened his world, Gaara couldn’t understand how someone could continuously reject him and purposefully try to kill him. The red head had made his opinion of the matter clear several times. Continuing to pursue the self-named avenger would only bring Naruto pain.

But Naruto had insisted with a sunny smile that he could change Sasuke, convince him to give up his hatred and come back.

“Temari, I wish to speak with him. Can you keep Kabuto distracted?”

She smirked smugly. “Who do you take me for? Kankuro?” Her youngest brother snorted and she gave him an honest grin. “You’ve got fifteen minutes.”

* * *

**18 hours and 53 minutes remaining**

Kabuto grinned wickedly, running nimble fingers through the dark tresses of one Sasuke Uchiha. It was amusing to see the brat so subservient. He was a weak willed boy. Orochimaru could not have selected a worse vessel. Sasuke-kun’s strength was over exaggerated.

He never imagined the opportunity he had been waiting for would arrive so soon. The chance to take over the Snake Sannin’s empire. The old fool was too close-sighted. Too narrow-minded in his effort to obtain true immortality.

So obsessed with that one goal, everything else had fallen to the wayside. His other experiments. Running the village. His ultimate dream to learn all the world’s secrets. His revenge against his sensei. Everything had been disregarded in favor of seeking eternal life, and not the illusion of it that he currently had.

Kabuto had taken up responsibility for all that. His own research and experimentation had yielded such spectacular results. Trailing his fingers down the side of Sasuke’s neck to where his Curse Mark rested, he thanked Orochimaru for being a single-minded idiot. Because of him, Kabuto had perfected the Cursed Seal. There was no chance of the recipient dying to start. But the best part was he had complete control over it. Sasuke was aware of everything he did, but it was impossible to fight the seal’s power.

Aware, but helpless to fight his control. Sasuke would break when Kabuto released him. It was going to be glorious.

Sasuke-kun was his trial run. A fantastic one, however, since everything was going according to plan. He had forced the boy into second stage and for him to come find him. The Uchiha was the perfect bait.  Kabuto would use the boy to get the answers he sought and then revel in the despair that would come when Sasuke killed his teammates.

Sasuke would thank him for it later. Kabuto had given him the power he needed to kill his brother and take out any that would interfere or prevent him from achieving his vengeance.

A willing follower was better than a mindless servant, but the silver haired man could live with the second option.

Kabuto reclined on his raised throne as the sound of footsteps echoed in the underground tunnels and caverns. He continued to run his fingers through Sasuke’s dark locks, knowing the possessive action would incite Naruto.

Rather anticlimactically considering the noise they made attempting to find him, the massive stone doors swung open slowly, just wide enough to admit to preteen figures.

“Oh,” Kabuto chuckled. “This is intriguing. Two of the Kazekage’s children. Temari and Gaara, am I right? Not the heroes I was expecting.”

The kunoichi’s response was a wordless snarl. Kabuto mockingly tutted her.

Gaara pinned him with an impassive stare. “Release Sasuke Uchiha.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” The silver haired man pasted a deceptively pleasant mask on his face as his shifted to prop his elbow on the arm of his throne and place his chin in his palm. “You see, Sasuke-kun is an integral part of my plan.”

“And what is your plan?”

“Now that would be telling,” Kabuto chuckled once more.

The siblings shared a look, having a silent conversation. His chuckling morphed into full blown laughter when the girl reached behind her to grab her war fan. “Are you sure you wish to do that? I know all of your abilities.”

She sneered at him. “Your ninja info cards are outdated. Full of cheap information anyone could get just by asking.”

Her assurance was amusing, really. He was going to enjoy crushing the naivety out of her. “I think you misheard me. I know _all_ of your abilities,” he said, putting emphasis on the all by drawing it out unnecessarily. “Even those extraordinary ones you and your friends have been hiding from every else.”

Temari whitened under her tan. “You dirty little rat.”

He waved the insult away. It wasn’t the most imaginative one. Discovering their secret was easier than casting a Replacement jutsu. The missing members of their quintet were hardly good at pretending nothing had changed. And the multiple times a day meetings in the Nara forest screamed unusual. It was like they were begging for him to spy on them.  

“Traveling back through time is an extraordinary feat. I can’t help but wonder how you managed it. I don’t suppose you’d share?” Silence met his words. “No? I expected as much.”

“Is that your plan?” Kabuto blinked at Gaara’s sudden question. “You desire to travel through time? To what end? To prevent your master from dying?”

The Sound ninja’s laughter took a turn for the hysterical. Several uncomfortable minutes for the two siblings later, he had collected himself enough to answer Gaara’s inquisition. “So narrow-sighted,” he said, wheezing. “We’ve been through this already. I’m not going to fall for that trick. I won’t be correcting you’re misconceptions and informing you of my goal.”

“I’ve had enough talking!” Temari yelled. She launched herself at him. In the blink of an eye she had been intercepted by Sasuke. He caught her heavy metal tipped fan with one of his wings, and with one powerful thrust thrown her back across the room.

Kabuto lounged back in his throne, content to watch them fruitlessly battle against his puppet.

* * *

**18 hours and 15 minutes remaining**

“Calm, Temari,” he said lowly. His sand halted her tumble through the air and set her down gently. “Do not charge in recklessly.”

“But, Gaara—“

“So long as he is controlling Sasuke, we will not get close to him. Let me engage Sasuke before you go after him,” reasoned the future Kazekage.

She nodded her assent, so Gaara turned to assess his opponent. This was the first time he had seen the boy in what was referred to as the second stage. It was a terrifying sight. The discoloration, the giant webbed hand wings, and the eyes. It was unnatural. Gaara felt revulsion that Orochimaru and Kabuto would experiment on people to get these kinds of results, and some pity for the boy trapped within.

The Uchiha probably wanted to fight as much as he did, which is to say not at all. But Gaara had to fight him in order to free him, to open his eyes to Naruto and Sakura, who were always standing by his side if he would have just looked for them. Because those two were willing to die to bring their teammate back even when the world was ending.

“Finish them,” came Kabuto’s cruel order. Sasuke’s black and yellow eyes became overshadowed briefly. They returned to normal in the space of time it took to blink.

Sasuke jumped, using his wings to hover scant inches from the ceiling. He hurled two handfuls of shuriken, directing them with the attached ninja wires to wrap around Gaara.

Sand exploded from his gourd, easily batting the projectiles to the side. Sasuke recovered quickly. With a twist of his wrists they encircled the red head, at a far enough distance that his sand didn’t automatically react. He yanked his arms back, drawing the strings in tight, Before Gaara could break them, Sasuke switched all the wires to one hand and breathed fire down them.

The flames raced on thin wires toward their target. Gaara simply condensed his sand into a solid sphere. It would take the brat’s Amaterasu flames, which he did not know about at this point, or one of his Chidoris to break through his defense.

Gaara did not hold the orb of sand long. It would be disadvantageous if he could not see his opponent.

The distinctive sound chirping birds filled the cavern. Temari cried out an unheard warning. The sand user dodged to the left. The Chidori, an attack that had to be used in a straight line, sailed by him.

Gaara was surprised that he would bring out his finishing move so early. He knew that there was a limit on how many times the dark haired boy could use that attack. It was probably higher since he was in second stage, but not by more than two or three more times. Perhaps it was because prolonged use of the Cursed Seal had to be causing him pain and he wanted to end the fight quickly. Gaara would not be surprised if that was the case. Sasuke had been in the seal’s second stage for six hours now. He didn’t think the Uchiha had ever used it that long when he had full control of it.

Well, he was more than happy to oblige if he wanted a quick battle. Gaara could hear his sister battling Kabuto behind him. Although it sounded more like Temari was trying to pummel him and Kabuto was evading her with ease. He would grow tired of his game shortly, so Gaara needed to finish up with Sasuke before then.

The Uchiha chose to engage in taijutsu next. It was a foolish move, and Gaara couldn’t help but wonder why he bothered. His sand had already proven that it would leap to his defense before the other boy could even get close.

He was persistent, though. Kicks, punches, elbows, knees, forearms, calves. The Uchiha was utilizing any part of his body that could hit with force, but he simply wasn’t fast enough. Gaara had long since overcome that weakness.

It was a two part solution. First, he held back part of his sand to spiral about him chaotically. Its movements were unpredictable and random. Sasuke would need to activate his Sharingan to see through it. Second, Gaara had gotten better at predicting an opponent’s movements, so he was already gathering sand to block Sasuke.

Now that he thought about it, it was curious that the Uchiha had yet to use his kekkei genkai. According to Naruto, he was capable of using the Sharingan in this form. So why wasn’t he?

Jade colored eyes tracked the monstrous form of Sasuke Uchiha as he executed a clumsy textbook attack. Inconsistencies started piling up. Slow speed, stubbornly using the ninja wires, punches that weren’t as heavy as they could have been, using the Chidori when it was all too easy for him to get out of the way, and not using his Sharingan.

Was Kabuto’s control slipping?

Gaara glanced at the other battle.

On the surface, it appeared that Temari was holding him at bay with her fan, using mid to long range wind jutsu to prevent him from engaging in a close combat fight. Gaara knew differently. Kabuto was giving his sister the illusion of control. In the short minute he watched their battle, he saw four openings the silver haired man could have taken advantage of, but chose not to. That was Kabuto’s style, to wear his opponent out before striking, quick as a snake.

Still, Gaara could see the perspiration along his hairline, and the darkened edge on his shirt where it was soaking in. Seeing as he had his battle under control, Gaara concluded that Kabuto was having problems exercising control over Sasuke.

Which meant that Sasuke was fighting, intentionally not fighting to his fullest capability.

Gaara smiled slightly at that. If Sasuke was aware of what he was doing and able to fight against the seal enough to affect his motor control, Gaara could get through to him.

Now that he was aware of the deception, Gaara waited patiently for the Uchiha to make his move. When the black haired boy gave up all pretenses of strategy and went for the direct frontal attack, he didn’t blink.

His sand snapped forward, wrapping around the outstretched fist aiming for his jaw and quickly spreading until it constricted Sasuke’s entire body. Held aloft by the grains of sand, reminiscent of his first and only fight with Naruto, Sasuke had no choice but to listen as Gaara spoke.

“I know that Naruto has already talked to you about this seal. He said you claimed to never want to use its power to augment your own,” he started. “What he probably didn’t tell you is that seal is more cursed than its name says. It allows negative emotions like rage and hatred to fester. The more and stronger you feel these emotions the more control the seal commands over you.

“You succumbed to its power once, using it to turn the world to fire and ash.”

The rest of the room ceased to exist. His words echoed in the silence. For a minute, Gaara thought they had not reached their intended target, that Kabuto’s control of his mind was still too great. Then he watched as Sasuke began to shake.

He tightened his sand’s hold on the other male that was now violently thrashing. The constricting sand only made Sasuke’s struggle wilder. So Gaara decided it was time to take another page out of Naruto’s book.

He head butted the Uchiha, slamming his forehead against Sasuke’s so forcefully that an audible crack was heard.

Gaara staggered back a half step, one hand rising up to cup his temple. Head butting someone hurt just as much when he was the one doing it as it had been receiving it. Sasuke went slack, a momentarily dazed look crossing over his face, then he was reverting back to his normal looks.

The teen hung limply in his sand prison. Warily, Gaara drew closer. When Sasuke did not suddenly attack, he manipulated his sand so that he was looking the final member of Team Seven in the eyes.

The black orbs were turbulent. He could see a lot of emotions swirling, fighting to be expressed. The foremost one was regret.

“I’m gladdened to see the contrition in your eyes, Sasuke. You have become a better man. It is good to see that Naruto’s belief in you has not been misplaced. Naruto saved me from myself once, when Suna invaded your Chuunin Exams. Only that time I fought against Konoha. He showed me that true strength comes from protecting those close to you. Naruto already believes in you. Believe in him in return and trust him.”

Gaara dredged up his old and buried feelings of hatred and resentment he felt as a child betrayed by his uncle and father and glared at Sasuke. “If you cause Naruto any more pain, I will make sure you never work as a ninja again. And should you kill him again, I will crush you.”

“I would never hurt Naruto.” Sasuke’s eyes burned with the strength of his promise. Gaara nodded, allowing his sand to release him and recalling it back to his gourd.

He clapped a hand on the Sasuke’s shoulder. “Then I am glad you are unharmed.”

“What did you do?”

Both boys turned at the angry hiss. Kabuto was glaring at Gaara and Sasuke, fury prominent in every line of his face. “Sen'ei Tajashu!” he screamed.

Upwards of a dozen snakes shot out of his sleeve, aiming for a startled Temari who was unprepared for Kabuto’s sudden seriousness. Meanwhile, Kabuto shed his skin, from his mouth revealing a new body that with a snake’s tail, and shot towards Sasuke with all the speed of a striking snake.

Gaara froze for a split second, torn. Who was he supposed to protect? Sasuke, who was in no position to defend himself, or his sister?

Ultimately, he didn’t have to choose.

* * *

**17 hours and 36 minutes remaining**

In a flash of orange, Naruto slammed his foot under Kabuto’s chin and extended his knee, kicking the snake bastard up and back. Landing lightly on his feet in front of Sasuke and Gaara, he threw a grin at them.

“I should have known you guys would get here first. But the hero always arrives at the last minute.”

Sasuke scoffed. “You said that on the bridge, dobe. And as I recall, I did more saving than you did.”

Gaara paid no attention as they two rivals descended into an argument, instead searching for his sister. She too was fine. Not that he expected anything else now that Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sakura had arrived. Shikamaru had caught the snakes’ shadows, allowing for Sakura to sever their heads with her chakra scalpels.

“So the gang’s all here,” Kabuto said sibilantly, once more drawing everyone’s gazes to him.

The six teenagers stood in a line before him. Despite the slight exhaustion from racing to Kusagakure, and for Gaara and Temari fighting against Sasuke and Kabuto, each one of them stood proudly; defiant. They dared Kabuto to make a move. They would ensure it was his last.

Maybe Kabuto sensed the Will of Fire burning within them. Maybe he thought that even if they were only twelve and fifteen, six against one wasn’t good odd. Maybe he didn’t think he could fight five time travelers and win. Maybe he was just a coward that would choose to run and preserve his life.

Whatever the reason, Kabuto retreated, slowly disappearing in flickering flames that worked their way upwards from his feet.

The six shinobi shared a look, but were ultimately unconcerned by the spy’s disappearance. They exited the maze of a base, which Sakura demolished with a few well-placed punches. The motley collection of shinobi from two different nations took to the trees, scaling them to stand at the top most point. The leaves were thick enough for all six to stand atop a single, wide tree.

The sky was just starting to darken as the sun set.

Naruto grinned brightly, cradling the back of his head in his hands. He had Sasuke to his left, and beyond him Shikamaru and Temari, with the former’s arm wrapped around the latter’s waist, pulling his girlfriend close. To his right was Sakura, with Gaara standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin lying on her shoulder.

Naruto stared at Sasuke from the corner of his eye, noticing the small smile on his face. Miraculously, they had done it. He had never shown it, but the blond had had his doubts. The hardest part was Sasuke himself, because he had to be willing to reach a hand out, but Team Seven was truly fixed. Reunited for the first time in over eleven years.

Not wanting to be left out, the blond threw an arm around Sauke’s shoulder, deftly ignoring how the other boy twitched at the action. “I’ll have you know I had the perfect plan to break us out of interrogation. There was no need for you to go all curse seal on us.”

“Shut up, dobe,” he muttered in return, trying to shrug his arm off.

“Not to ruin your bromance or anything,” Temari snickered, “but Kabuto’s been gathering information on us. He knows we’re from the future.”

Naruto shrugged haplessly. “It doesn’t change anything. We’re still better prepared this time around.”

“Still, I suppose we ought to come clean now,” Shikamaru said to no one. “It would be very bad if Tsunade heard rumors of us being time travelers. It’s probably what we should have done in the first place. Keeping a secret this long was too—“

“Troublesome,” everyone said with him, grinning.

The future Rokudaime Hokage felt like laughing. They had done it. They succeeded. They had well and truly saved Sasuke. It was such a euphoric feeling. Sure, it wasn’t all over yet, but their primary mission was. They were still looking at a future with war, but they had fought it once. The five of them were better prepared for what was to come, and they would make sure the rest of the world was too. And this time, they would not lose, because Sasuke was on their side.

“Naruto.” The five time travelers turned to look at Sasuke, who rarely called the other boy by his given name.

“I want you to remove the Cursed Seal. Sakura told me you were capable of doing it.” He ignored how said blond turned to glare daggers at their last teammate. “I don’t want to be the Sasuke from your future.”

“Just how much did she tell you?”

“Everything,” shrugged Sasuke. Sakura smiled guiltlessly when Naruto tried to reprimand her with a look.

He heaved a sigh. “It might not be so easy, Sasuke. Last time you were bitten by Orochimaru. Kabuto’s is radically different. This version could prove tougher to get rid of. And it’ll probably be just as painful as when you got it.”

“I don’t care,” Sasuke insisted.

“If you’re sure,” Naruto said. “It’ll take roughly a day to write the seal.”

“Tsunade only gave you us twenty-four hours to bring him back,” reminded Shikamaru. Sasuke was surprised by that, but Naruto brushed it off.

Tsunade wasn’t going to kill them, even if they were late. Especially not after they told her their story. She’d be pissed, and was likely going to break her desk, but they didn’t really have anything to fear from the woman.

“Let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, let me explain myself before you start filling my inbox with angry comments.
> 
> Yes, this is the end of this story. No there will not be a sequel. I know there will be people unhappy with the ending, thinking that it’s rather abrupt and doesn’t make sense since I haven’t even reached the Fourth Shinobi War, but I feel there could be no other ending. 
> 
> Saving Sasuke has never been about stopping the war before it could begin. It’s about a broken team that goes back in time to fix itself, because by doing so the whole future as they know it will change. 
> 
> So, I hope some of you are actually happy with the ending.


	18. Epilogue

Tsunade glowered at the seven shinobi standing before her. Exasperation was her most prominent feeling. She knew the pair from Suna was in on whatever it was that was going on here, but couldn’t understand how they came to be in her office. Twenty four hours was not enough time for them to be briefed, let alone for them to reach Konoha.

Yet there they stood, expressions as barren as the deserts they came from. The other unexplainable presence was none other than Kakashi Hatake.

The blonde woman had had no idea that one of her best jounin was included in this fiasco. She would have called him in and demanded answers from him instead of interrogating the gennin. Kakashi wouldn’t ever allow his team to die, but he was a jounin under her command and duty bound to inform her of suspicious activity or insubordination.

His presence, while unexpected because she hadn’t sent for him, was more understandable than the Kazekage’s children’s. Kakashi probably learned of the ultimatum she gave his team through Anko and had his ninja hounds positioned to scent them when the three of them returned.

And return they did, well after her sanctioned limit. And not one of them appeared to be afraid of her following through on her threat to have the troublesome Uchiha executed.

It was Sasuke who was the most puzzling of them all, because of the conspicuous absence of the Cursed Seal on the left side of his neck. For the only one whose neck was on the line, the Uchiha was the most relaxed of the seven. He stood with confidence, bookended by his brightly colored teammates, as if he didn’t care about the outcome of this meeting because he already knew how it would go.

Eyes roved over the easy-going and laidback stances of the seven shinobi assembled before her, and that was when Tsunade realized what seemed so out of place.

She had never seen all seven of them grouped together, but any time when at least two of them were present, they always felt distant. Separate. On the edge.

Now all seven of them exhibited the same aura, so to speak. Tsunade was getting the same vibe from all of them.

Looking at the Uchiha now, it was glaringly obvious that she had been wrong in her earlier assumption that he knew what was up with his teammates. Before, Uzumaki and Haruno stood closer to each other than they did him, and the boy was constantly shooting them reflective looks. The kid didn’t have a clue then, but he did now.

The Kyuubi’s vessel stepped forward. Fragments of her desk splintered underfoot. Tsunade had pummeled it mercilessly when the three chuunin had not returned within the day like she had been expecting of them.

“The mission was a success, Tsunade-sama,” Naruto intoned.

The clinical deliverance struck Tsunade hard. Especially his addressing her by name. Up until she had given the mandate bring Sasuke Uchiha back or he’s being registered as a missing-nin, Naruto had referred to her by Baa-chan. She wanted to hit the brat every time he used it, but now that he wasn’t, now that she was so low in his esteem that he refused to call her Hokage, Tsunade wished he would go back to being rude.

That was more manageable than being viewed as honorless by a twelve year old boy.

“The problem has been dealt with,” Naruto continued. “Sasuke’s Cursed Seal has been removed.”

“How?” she pressed.

“I am a Fuuinjutsu Master. I removed it myself.”

Tsunade’s eyes popped at that nugget of information. That was the most forthcoming she had seen any of them, and Naruto claiming to be a seals expert was the last thing she was envisioning. 

“That’s not in your records,” was all that she could say.

“That’s because it hasn’t happened yet.”

A heavy silence filled the large room. Before her eyes, five of the six teenagers changed before her eyes. Just like they had two days ago when they walked away from her in the bowels of the Torture and Interrogation tower, the five of them now appeared to fill the room.  There was an air of assurance, of power, surrounding them.

Tsunade pushed those feelings aside. She didn’t know what was going on, but she had to be projecting her expectations of who they would become onto them, because there was no way for such a drastic change to be seen in them. Gennin did not simply wake up one morning with power, abilities, and skills they had never had before.

The Legendary Sucker put on her poker face. The brats were trying to distract her from getting her answers. They thought that by being cagey and presenting a united front, that by letting only Naruto speak for them, that she would forget what she wanted to ask. Or get so irritated and annoyed that she kicked them out prematurely. But Tsunade wasn’t going to let that happen.

“When did you learn Fuuinjutsu? Who taught you? How did you manage to remove the Cursed Seal from the Uchiha? Why did he go berserk and where did he go?”

“Before you ask any more questions, I have one for you.” Tsunade huffed irritably but gestured for Uzumaki to ask his question.

“Do you believe in time travel?”

No was her immediate response, but she couldn’t voice it because of the manner in which Naruto was looking at her. Unwavering blue eyes that had darkened with his intensity were trained on her. It was the most serious she had seen the loud boy since he had somehow wound up a part of her rescue. Irrationally, Tsunade felt like she was standing before Sarutobi or Minato when they took the Hokage position and each swore to protect the village with his life.

“Say I believe what you’re suggesting, how did it happen and why did you never tell anyone?”

“Like right now?” Naruto raised a sardonic eyebrow.

Tsunade’s lips twitched reflexively. “Yes.”

He shrugged unconcernedly. “Who would believe it? You certainly don’t.”

“Let’s say I do. It certainly would explain the miraculous changes witnessed in you, Nara and Haruno in the last three months.” The last part was muttered, but not so lowly that everyone couldn’t hear it. “Would you tell me why you traveled through time?”

This time Naruto paused long enough to look at his companions, not answering until each had confirmed their agreement with a small nod. “To prevent a war. The Fourth Great Ninja War, to be precise.”

Tsunade wished her chair had survived her rage for she could use its support right now. She wasn’t nearly drunk enough to be having this conversation, theoretically or otherwise.

“Tell me everything,” she ordered.

For once the brat told her the truth. Over two hours he spent talking about what had happened in their future, five nations waging war against a man revived by a forbidden jutsu and the ultimate Tailed Beast, villages falling one by one until all that was left were pockets of shinobi hiding from a mad man, a Konoha devoured by flames, eleven years of fighting, and it culminated with the decision to use a risky, dangerous, unknown jutsu to travel back through time.

Uzumaki then briefly outlined what changes they had brought about or seen as a result of their being back in time, and what he believed she could still expect of the future.

Tsunade listened with half an ear, uncaring that his voiced sounded muffled, as if she had plugged her ears. All she could think about was the one war that she had fought in, the one responsible for the deaths of both her brother Nawaki and her lover Dan.

It took her several minutes to realize that Naruto, who understood what being Hokage meant if his story and actions were anything to judge by, had finished his tale and that they were all waiting for her to speak.

Her mouth was dry. “You said we have three years until it begins.”

“I believe so, Tsunade-sama.”

“I’ve heard enough for now. I’ll send for you sometime tomorrow. We’ll talk with Shikaku and start planning.”

It was a clear dismal. A few seconds later, the Fifth Hokage was alone in her ravaged office. Unthinkingly she knelt, gently picking up the red hat that was a symbol of her position. She abhorred wearing it. She felt like she should hate it even more know. Having listened to Naruto’s tale, hearing that he had become the Sixth Hokage and learning about everything he had done for Konoha, Tsunade never thought the words he had said only two days ago to be more true.

How could she call herself Hokage when the idea of war frightened her so badly that her hands were shaking? When the hat felt so heavy in her hands?

Tsunade rose, hat grasped tightly in her hands. Facing the window, she observed her village, marveling at the peace and serenity, desperately wishing that it did not have to change. The hat came to rest on her head, and she stared at her reflection.

She may have initially taken the job to get Sarutobi and the Daimyō off her back about her massive gambling debt, but that wasn’t good enough anymore. She owed the village more than a lackluster Hokage. If she had even half the dedication and guts as those five brats did, Tsunade would see that Konoha survived this upcoming war.

“Shizune!” she roared, summoning her assistant. “Have another desk brought in immediately. Then help me gather up all this paper work.”

The dark haired woman clutching a pig to her chest smiled brilliantly, overjoyed that her master was going to get some work done. “At once, my lady.”

* * *

Sasuke waited until the seven of them had trooped out of the Hokage tower, Naruto and Sakura bidding their goodbyes to Gaara and Temari and Shikamaru who was accompanying his girlfriend to the gate, before asking the question that had been eating at him.

“Why did you tell her what I did?” he asked tensely.

Naruto’s eyes were piercing. He barely registered Sakura lightly touching his upper arm. “Because that’s not you anymore. You’re not going to destroy our home; therefore Tsunade didn’t need to know. She’s got enough to deal with worrying about what’s to come. She doesn’t need to worry about one thing that never will.”

Sasuke smiled softly, thinking that the blond was unbelievable. He looked at Sakura, who bore a similar expression of absolute faith in him.

“Thank you. Both of you,” he continued at their startled and slightly apprehensive looks, “for fighting for me. For believing in me.”

“We’ll always be there for you, Sasuke,” Sakura said softly.

“That’s right,” Naruto agreed. “Cause we’re Team Seven. Those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash.”

All three of them grinned as they finished Kakashi’s quote in synchrony.

“You owe me a fight, dobe. You and Sakura have been holding back on me.”  _‘I’m going to beat you for not telling me all this when you had the chance.’_

“I’m going to beat both of you.” _‘I can’t believe you told him when I told you not to.’_

“Bring it on. It’ll feel good not to hide my abilities.” _‘Don’t blame me for this mess. You insisted on keeping it a secret. Take your punishment like a man.’_

* * *

Forgotten by the three of them, Kakashi smiled proudly at his students, who were still bickering playfully and declaring that the loser would pay for lunch. He had had a passing thought, during the final portion of the Chuunin Exams, in which he believed that his team would be legendary one day.

Of course, that had been before he had been let in on Naruto and Sakura’s little secret.

He was so proud now, knowing what they had accomplished and who they had become, seeing the fruits of their labor before him in the form of a relaxed Sasuke.

Together, there was nothing his team couldn’t do. They would be greater than the Sannin, and it would be all because of Obito. Because of him, he had a team willing to die for each other, to travel through time and relive a war.

So Kakashi gracefully loped after his three students, refereeing their spar (declaring no one a winner but announcing delightedly that Sasuke had lost) and paid for lunch afterwards.

‘I don’t know where you are, Obito, but I hope you’re watching. You’re dream of world peace is closer than you imagined.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had readers on Fanfiction asking for a sequel. I wasn't sure about it, happy with how I had ended this story, but I wanted to see what I would write. I like this ending even better.
> 
> If any of you are interested in a sequel, my best friend on Fanfiction will be writing one. I don't know when she'll get around to it, but her penname is Angellwriter, so be sure to look her up.


End file.
